Alpha and Omega
by troxfot
Summary: War, war never changes no matter how many "Lone Wanderers" there are. Gary and Oliver North are twins that escaped Vault 101. Their paths will stray, and they will have to decide what is more important: their beliefs or family.
1. Chapter 1: Escape

_**War. War never changes.**_

_**Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage. **_

_**In the year **__**2077**__**, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation.**_

_**But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes. **_

_**In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as **__**vaults**__**. But when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them - all except those in **__**Vault 101**__**. For on the **__**fateful day**__**, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed... and never reopened. **_

_**It was here **__**you**__** were born. It is here you will die. Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters and no one ever leaves.**_

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><p><em>I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.<em>

_I am Alpha and Omega._

_We are Alpha and Omega._

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><p>"Well say goodbye to August 16th." Gary said while crossing off the date on the calendar. He threw his Vault lab coat onto his bed and unzipped his Vault 101 jumpsuit at the neck, to let some air in.<p>

"Well we could thank God for that one," Oliver replied. He unstrapped the vest he wore as a guard of the Vault. He removed his helmet next, and threw it onto his bed near his brother's.

"And why is that? People givin' ya trouble?" Gary inquired; who ever said that twins knew what the other was thinking was total BS.

"Who else other then the Tunnel Snakes? You would think that they would have been things to do then bother guards."

"You're just sore 'cuz they didn't let you join their gang."

"As if buddy boy, I don't need 'em."

The conversation in the bedroom made James lift his head. He looked at they twins, _his_ twins. Gary Micah North, the eldest by a several minutes, stood at 5 foot 11 inches, the same height as his dear ol' dad. He had his brown hair fashioned in a pompadour. He was growing a beard similar to the one that James had currently. Gary had an athletic build even though he worked in the clinic with James. He generally maintained a calm demeanor, with a hint of sarcasm here and there. He was very helpful, which is why he loved his job so much. James could still remember when he ran back from the G.O.A.T. to state his future job…

Then there was his other son, Oliver John North, the "younger" so to speak. He was slightly taller then Gary and himself, standing at 6 foot 1 inch. His hair was a dark brown similar to Gary's, and fashioned the same as the Tunnel Snakes that ran amuck in the Vault. Oliver was currently sporting a goatee, which he groomed with pride. He was slightly bigger then his brother, he stated plenty of times. He worked as a guard in the Vault and tried to throw his muscle around. Oliver never necessarily was a friendly person, unless it would benefit him. He was just as sarcastic as Gary, if not more. The defining characteristic of Oliver was his short fuse, he has a colossal temper that worried James, he had a feeling his son would get into a lot of trouble in the future due to it.

Gary noticed his father looking at them from the other room. "Dad, we interrupting your work? We could quiet down a bit if you'd like."

"No, no it's fine, I'm going to be heading back to the clinic fairly soon anyway." James replied, tidying up the papers he had scattered around the table.

"What for?" Oliver asked. "I'm sure my dear brother would love to help if need be."

"Yea, I didn't think we had that much work left over. I thought it could wait until tomorrow, or was I wrong?" Gary said, walking into the main room of their apartment. He bent down and started looking over the charts that his father had on the table. Just medical papers, things he had looked over that very morning. He then looked at his father. He was growing, old even if he didn't want to admit it. His once youthful face was wrinkling, and his hair graying.

"No, you weren't wrong, but Jonas and I have something that needs finishing." James stated. He stood up and placed the papers into a bag. Jonas was James' _other_ assistant. Even though he was a different skin color, he was practically a part of the North family.

James looked at his two sons. "I won't be back until later, so don't stay up waiting for me, alright?" His sons didn't argue, their father leaving for the clinic and staying there for outrageous hours was normal now, he had made a habit of it.

As James was leaving, he turned back to face his boys, well they weren't boys any more, they were 19, they were men. "Sons, I love you." Gary and Oliver looked at each other and turned back to their father.

"Course dad, we love you too." And with that James went down the hall of Vault 101. Gary returned to the bedroom, Oliver was already getting out of his jumpsuit.

"Did something seem a bit off to you about dad?" Gary inquired.

"Eh, he is just stressed or something. No big deal." Oliver replied. He stood there in his shorts and undershirt, jumbling his jumpsuit up into a ball and throwing it into the corner of the room. Gary unzipped his jumpsuit and looked at his undershirt; there was a blood on it. He stared at it for a brief second, trying to remember where it came form. Gary shrugged, took off his shirt and grabbed a new clean one.

"G'night" Gary said to his brother as he jumped into bed. Oliver got into the bed across from Gary's and nodded.

"Yea, night." Oliver laid on his back staring at the ceiling. The cold metal stared back at him, cold unforgiving metal. He was tired, tired of Vault 101. "Yo, you still awake?"

"I just laid down, of course I'm still awake." Gary replied "Whats on your mind Johnny?" He sometimes called Oliver by his middle name because Oliver used to despise his first name when he was a child.

"You ever think we are gonna get outta here?"

"That kinda talk is gonna get ya crucified man, the Overseer would make an example out of you for talk like that." They both got a little chuckle out Gary's quip.

"You kiddin? Your sleepin with his daughter and _I_ would be the one who is crucified?" Oliver retorted back. Gary threw his dirty undershirt at him from across the room.

"Cram it; I'm going to sleep now."

"By the way, how is she?"

"I'm not dignifying that with a response. Good night." And with that Gary turned his back to the wall. Oliver rolled over and looked back at the ceiling. He would get out of here, with or without his family. He needed more action in his life then disciplining Tunnel Snakes. One day, one day he would get out of here.

One day soon…

But now he would get a good nights rest.

And there goes the neighborhood.

"Wake up! Come on, wake up!" That was Amata's voice. Amata Almodovar was the Overseer's daughter. She was shaking Gary, her favorite out the twins. Gary slowly sat up and opened his eyes. He tried to adjust to the bright red lights and the blarring alarm in the distance. "Come on, you've got to wake up!"

"Hey…" Gary stifled a weak laugh, "I was just dreaming about you." His vision had become clear and now he noticed that her good looking face was wearing a mask of fear.

"Was it a good one?" Oliver added in, now he was up. Can't he go a day without somehow being annoyed by Amata?

Amata basically slapped Gary for his remark. Well hello world. "Now's not the time to be a smart mouth! This is serious!" She threw out her arms to get a point across. "My father's men are looking for you! They've already killed Jonas, the two of you have to get out of here now!"

"What the hell, what are you talking about? Jonas is… dead?" When Amata gave that little piece of info it hit Gary hard. Jonas was a good man, a good friend.

"What the hell is going on here?" Oliver asked, he got up and started putting on his vault jumpsuit.

"Your dad left the Vault!" Well that hit both of the North boys hard. Left the Vault? They turned to each other in disbelief. Gary then shot out of bed and started putting on his jumpsuit.

"Jesus Christ, what is going on here?" Gary stated quickly, jumping and putting one leg in the 101 suit.

"Jonas… My father's men… they took him and… Oh my God… they just kept." Gary stopped Amata, he looked at her knowingly. She was getting worked up recalling these past events; tears were streaming down her face.

"Hey, hey, everything going to be alright. You okay?" Gary put his arm on Amata's shoulder.

"Yea, yea I'll be fine don't worry about me. I'm just sorry you had to find out like this. I know that Jonas was a good friend of the both of you. Oliver started putting on his guard vest, looks like adventure was coming all right, and he was going out of the Vault swingin'. Gary started pacing back and forth, mumbling swears while emptying medical supplies into his pockets.

"We have to get you two out of here now!" Amata exclaimed, not wanting to waste time.

"How the hell did dad get out? The door is sealed? Isn't it?" Oliver asked.

"Well not anymore, apparently. But are you honestly telling me neither of you had any that he was leaving? He really didn't tell you?"

Gary put his hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh "We seriously had no clue…" He said solemnly.

"Oh… I'm sorry, I'm sure he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was supposed to explain everything to you?" Amata asked sympathetically. All of a sudden her tone changed. "It doesn't matter now. I can help you escape. I haven my own plan!" Gary and Oliver shot each other glances.

"Not another one of your 'plans', Amata…" Oliver stated.

"Just listen! There's a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father's office to the exit. You'll have to hack the computer in his office to open it." She then took out some bobby pins. "Use these to get into his office. That's how I always get in."

Gary turned to his brother and then to Amata. Decent enough. "Ok sounds like a plan, let's make like a baby and head out!" He started to move forward to grab some stuff off their desk, but Amata stopped him.

"One more thing. I stole my father's pistol. I hope you won't need it, but you'd better take it just in case." She removed the pistol from her pocket and slowly handed it to Gary. He looked down at the 10mm and grabbed it from the handle. He shot Amata a reassuring smile.

"Thanks Amata, it'll only be used on a last resort occasion, I swear."

"Okay. I'll try to meet the both of you at the exit. Watch out for security." She moved in closer to Gary and pecked him on the cheek. She then went over to Oliver and did the same. "Good luck!" And with that she ran out of their room. The twins watched as she left and then they turned to each other.

"Good morning, Gary" Oliver said calmly, cracking his brother a smile.. Gary smiled a bit and ran to the desk. He grabbed the baseball bat at the desk along with the glove and ball that went with it. He turned to Oliver, "You want the gun?" They were both experienced in guns, they practiced with a be be gun since they were 10.

"I don't need it, I got this baby." Oliver brandished his police baton; he was a force to be reckoned with. He did grab the be be gun though and did a baseball bat motion with it. "A bludgeon." Oliver did enjoy hitting things more so then shooting things. Call him cynical but there was a certain satisfaction.

Gary looked at what they had: A pistol, baseball bat, "bludgeon", baton, one set of armor, 10 stimpacks, one med-x, and some medical supplies that he could do quick surgery with. Looks like they would have to make due. Gary grabbed a picture of the family on their way out, it was from their 10th birthday, and his brother would thank him later.

The twins ran out into the hall, only to be angrily greeted by Officer Kendall. "There they are!" He raised a finger and a baton in their direction. He wore the same armor that Oliver did, but unlike Oliver, Kendall had a visor on.

There was a scratching noise on the metal floor of the Vault; it could only mean one thing. "Crimeny, more roaches!" Kendall exclaimed as he started beating on the radroaches with his baton. Radroaches would have gone up to the twin's knees if they stood up, they were simply incredibly mutated cockroaches. There was a hard shell on top to protect their soft underbody. Kendall started flailing with his baton, trying to kill the roaches as they jumped towards him. The brothers nodded to each other and ran to aid Kendall.

The three of them made quick work of the radroaches, Gary saved ammo and used his baseball bat, smashing the bugs with heavy downwards swings. Oliver swiped at the large bugs and got some "juice" on his armor, he thought it made him look tough.

Officer Kendall didn't waste anytime once the bug problem was done with, he turned towards the Norths and launched. "Whoa whoa!" Gary shouted. He brandished his pistol. "I don't want to hurt you Kendall!"

The officer of the Vault ignored him as he kept swinging, and missing. Gary constantly back up, keeping his pistol raised. Oliver was simply watching; standing motionless as his brother was being attacked. Gary pulled back the hammer and shot Officer Kendall in the knee cap, which caused him to drop to the ground on one knee.

"You forced my…" Gary started, but didn't get to finish. Oliver took out his baton and flipped up Kendall's visor. He then proceeded to smash the officer's face in with one strike. Kendall fell over on his back, unconscious or worse. Blood ran down his face and onto the once clean Vault floor. Gary looked up from the gruesome sight and towards his brother.

"What the hell was that?" Gary shouted. "That was totally unnecessary!"

"Man the hell up, he deserved it." Oliver looked at his baton and wiped it off on his jumpsuit leg. He was totally un-phased by the act he just committed.

"You worked with him! You didn't feel anything towards him at all?"

"He was an ass, and he threatened me, it's as simple as that." Gary stared into his brothers eyes, they were cold; this wasn't the brother he grew up with. How could such a person be truly hidden for years? Maybe it was a phase, hopefully it was a phase.

"Is there anyone in this Vault you don't hate?" Gary asked.

"I don't hate you yet, so let's keep it that way." Oliver cracked a smile, ignoring that fact that he just smashed a man's face in and possibly killed him. "Now take him armor, you're going to need it." He had a point. Gary walked towards Kendall, or the body of Kendall, and started to unstrap his vest. He didn't wish to feel for a pulse, fearing that his brother may have just killed and officer of the Vault. Gary put on the armor and took the visor off of Kendall and placed it on his head. He noticed the police baton that rolled onto the floor and grabbed it, placing it on his belt; he was ready for another fight.

Oliver broke the silence. "Let's get going, we need to get out of here ASAP."

"Agreed." And with that, the brothers continued down the hall at a quickened pace, not wishing to be caught by another guard. This time however, it wasn't a guard who slowed them down. Butch, the leader of the Tunnel Snakes Vault gang, came running from around the corner. His usually well kept hair was in his face, sweat pored down his head. His face lit up when he saw the North brothers, he didn't waste any time conveying what he wanted.

"You guys gotta help me! My mom's trapped in there with the Radroaches!" Oliver looked at Gary as he snickered. He wasn't seriously going to help this asshole was he?

"Butch… asking us for help. If only you knew what 'irony' meant." Gary said that because he knew Butch had no idea what it meant.

Butch tried to play it off, "Yeah, so what if I'm asking you? Look. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, the both of you. You know I never meant any of it, right?" Oliver looked at his brother; he could tell that Gary was going to help.

"Fine, but I'll do this for your mom not…" Oliver didn't let Gary finish.

"Are you fuckin' serious? Help this asshole? You could waste time, but I'm not gonna help him or his mom!" Oliver was pissed. After all this guy had done to us over the years and he was going to help him? Not a chance.

"Yo man, settle down, his mom never…"

Oliver wouldn't have any over it. "She conceived this bitch and that's enough!" And with that, he went walking down the hall. Gary sighed and looked up at Butch, looking jumpy waiting for a response.

"Are you afraid of the radroaches?" Gary questioned.

"No… OK yea but so what? Just help me man!" Gary couldn't help but laugh, so much for the almighty Butch DeLoria.

"They're small, you're big. You could handle them easily. Come on I'll even hold you hand and help if you need it." Butch was amazingly inspired by Gary's sarcasm, he seemed to perk up a little.

"You're right! Let's show them how the Tunnel Snakes do things!" The two of them ran into the DeLoria residence. Ellen DeLoria was hunched over in the fetal position, being mercilessly attacked by Radroaches. The two made short work of the radroaches with Gary's bat and Butch's knife. Gary leaned down to help Butch's mom from off the floor. He then felt a hand clamp on his shoulder. Butch was elated in a way that Gary had never witnessed.

"We did it man, my mom's gonna be OK! You're the best friend I've ever had! Hey, I know it isn't much, but I want you to have my Tunnel Snakes jacket. Go ahead, take it." Butch took off his leather jacket and handed it to Gary. He looked down at this gift and took it, thanking Butch for it. Gary put it on; he knew the pockets would come in handy. With that he left, not wanting Butch to resort to his normal ways. "I'll be attacked even more in this jacket." Gary thought to himself.

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><p>Oliver couldn't believe what he just witnessed; his brother just went to the aid of the biggest jack ass in the Vault. Butch was nothing but trouble for the both of them since they were young. They got in a fight on the North brothers' tenth birthday, they got in a fight before the G.O.A.T., and well they generally fought a lot overall. Well Oliver had to look after himself, if Gary wasn't going to join him on his way out, well sucks for him.<p>

Oliver hustled down the hall and around the corner; he figured he should grab some food from the diner before he left. The all too familiar sound of Radroach feet scratching on the floor emitted from the diner to his right. He peaked his head in and found a corpse on the ground. Oliver shook his head and closed the door to the diner, no point in going in. He continued down the hall and up the stairs, only to be greeted by the sounds of battle. "Have at you!" That was that damned robot, Andy.

Oliver took his baton off his belt and readied for the fight. A single Radroach scurried in front of him, but before he could swipe at it, the overly radiated insect combusted in a glorious fire from a nozzle on Andy, the Mr. Handy Robot. "Damned robot took my kill…" Andy floated off and started buzz sawing another bug, showoff. Oliver walked forward examining the carnage around him.

"Oliver!" Guard, he needed to die. Before even looking, Oliver turned around and swung out at the voice. The figure jumped back and held out his hand. "Whoa whoa! I just wanna talk to you son!" Herman Gomez, he was an alright guy. Oliver put down his baton and looked at his co-worker. "Listen, you're lucky it was me who found you, the others won't be as forgiving."

"And I'll pretend our fearless "leader" isn't on a psychotic rampage,"

"I know, I know, that's why you have to get out of here." Oliver looked at Gomez, was he up to something? As far he was concerned, all these guards were the same; which was ironic seeing that he was a guard just a few hours ago.

"There you are!" Gomez and Oliver stopped looking at each other and now stared in the direction of the new voice. Gary came running up the stairs, a new jacket being proudly worn.

"You two best friends now?" Oliver sneered, meaning him and Butch. Gary ignored his brother's comment and looked at Officer Gomez.

"I assume by the fact that you two aren't in a heated duel to the death that you have nothing against us Officer Gomez?"

"Listen, you are both good kids. Neither of you did anything to deserve this, you have to go find your dad." Gary could tell that Officer Gomez genuinely cared for the two of them. He extended a hand, and Officer Gomez met it with his own.

"Thanks, Officer Gomez, I've always liked you." Officer Gomez smiled and nodded. "Could you please tell me what the hell happened?" Gomez ran his hand through his hair and let out an exasperated breath.

"It's all a real shame that it came to what it did. Mack was out of control… what they did to Jonas…" His eyes drifted to the floor and then slowly back up to face Gary, his eyes trying to convey some feelings of reassurance. "You two have to get out of here though, go on, and good luck."

"Yea, enough of the exchange of feeling and what not." Trust Oliver to always say the right thing. The two brothers nodded. Stanley appeared from the clinic for the first time. He took out a rag and started cleaning off the battle-scared Andy.

"Ah good sirs! I suppose you are looking for you father the doctor!" Stanley shook his head at Andy's obliviousness.

"Listen boys, I don't really know what's going on, but I think you two should get outta here."

"Understood Stanley, I just wanna check our dad's office real quick, maybe he left behind something important for us," Gary stated. The North brothers waited for Stanley's reply, he nodded his head.

"Alright, well good luck out there boys." With that, the two brothers quickly ran into the clinic office. The place was already ransacked, papers littered the floor and the computer was turned over onto the floor.

"Someone's been here, let's go." Oliver didn't have time for this, they needed to bail. His brother was staring at the quote that adorned the office's wall.

Gary read the quote aloud. "_I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." _He turned to Oliver, "Mom's favorite passage, Revelation 21:6."

"Yea I would think I would know, we've only heard it a couple thousand times." Gary shook his head; there was no sense in talking to his brother. It was quite obvious that Oliver had a one track mind; nothing was going to get in the way of him and his glorious escape. Just as they were about to leave, Gary noticed a bobble head; it was the Vault Boy holding a very large syringe. He flipped it over and read the text on the bottom, "_The smart man knows bandages only hide his wounds._" He pocketed the bobble-head motioned to his brother that they could leave.

The brothers said their good byes to Stanley and Gomez one last time before heading out a door to their left. The new area that they now stood in was the Atrium, one of the largest rooms in the Vault. The room contained two floors and a walkway. The Overseer's office was on the second floor, which is where they were heading next.

The brothers noticed Tom and Mary Holden, a young couple, standing in front of a pillar. Tom was speaking hastily to his wife. ""Don't you see? This is our chance! We're getting out of here, just like the doctor!" Tom's wife didn't have the opportunity to argue, he ran towards a hallway on the far end of the atrium, leading to freedom. Tom waved his hands at the guards protecting the doorway. "Hey it's me…"

The guards went for their guns, and Oliver shouted first. "Get the hell out of there man!" Too late. The guards sprayed at Tom with their pistols, his corpse dropped to the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"Tom!" Mary Holden went to run to the body of her dead husband. The guards reloaded and aimed at Mary.

"Christ! Get down!" Gary ran towards Mary and tackled her to the floor, out of the line of sight of the guards. There was a searing pain that passed through Gary as he hit the hard metal ground of the Vault. He turned to his left, his upper arm was bleeding, lucky him, the bullet only grazed his limb. He noticed Oliver concealed himself on the left side of the entrance, waiting for a guard to pass through.

"Stay here." Gary told Mary as he stood up and drew his pistol. One of the guards, Officer Richards ran out of the hallway and into the atrium, wishing to get a better view of his target, Gary. Oliver raised his baton and with all of his strength he bashed the officer on the top of the head. Richards' body hit the ground with a hard 'thud'.

Oliver saw the second officer, O'Brian, point his gun directly at him. Oliver mumbled a profanity as he went to roll out of the way. A string of bullets went off, yet Oliver felt nothing. He heard a loud thud as O'Brian dropped to the ground. His body twitched slightly.

"You alright brother?"

"Well I'll be damned, you could kill someone if you set you mind to it." Oliver was surprised Gary killed the officer, he always seemed like he had a moral high ground that couldn't be associated with anything bad.

"Yea, well you saved my ass with that baton of yours, we'll call it even." Gary tried to hide any sort of disturbance he was currently feeling within himself. He just killed a man with the gun Amata gave him. He tried to put it in his head that his kill was justifiable, but the notion still itched in the back of his head.

Oliver snapped Gary out of it. "How's the arm?" Pointing to the graze on Gary's left arm.

"Ah it's just a flesh wound, no big deal." Gary turned and looked behind him. Mary Holden was weeping over her dead husband's body. He shook his head, "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Music to my ears." Oliver picked up one of the officer's pistols and tossed another over to his brother. He made sure he took all of their ammo because he figured he would need it. The pair hopped over some Radroaches that stood in their way and ran up a flight of stairs, taking two or three steps at a time. They rounded a corridor that led them to the second floor walkway that was above the atrium.

As the two brothers jogged towards the door opposite them, they heard muffled shouting. "You two! This is all your fault!" That was Allen Mack, only an asshole of that caliber could produce two sons that were complete asses. "The two of you and that stupid father of yours! He had to go and leave…" Gary wouldn't let him finish.

"Yea and up yours too buddy!" He flipped him off just to add a bit of 'flair' to it. He wouldn't hear any smart mouth about his father. Oliver smiled and stuck up two middle fingers, and followed his brother into the next room: the maintenance area.

Red light flooded the area, and the sirens were especially loud in this room. Radroaches crawled on the floor, and started towards the brothers. The two of them each shot at a roach each. Gary went ahead first; he noticed the body of Floyd Lewis, an engineer. His body was riddled with Radraoch bites.

"Poor bastard." Oliver spoke aloud. Before Gary could comment, he doubled over in pain as he was hit in the stomach from a baton. He fell to the ground, trying to get back the air that was just knocked out of him.

"You like that?" That was the voice of Security Chief Hannon. Gary expected another blow, but didn't feel anything. He shifted his body a little to see what was going on. Oliver had Hannon at gun point.

"Do it again and I'll splatter your brains over the wall." Oliver said through his teeth. Hannon threw his head up and laugh, mocking Oliver.

"Splatter _my_ brains? You don't have the balls kid. I've seen how you work, your a little-"

Hannon was cut off on the account of his brains getting splattered all over the wall.

"Fucker, you'll know not to try me now!" Oliver shouted. He spit on Hannon's corpse and looked at Gary. His face seemed to lighten up a little. "Sorry about that, I didn't react quick enough." He walked over to his brother and pulled him from off the ground. "You OK? You took a hard hit to the gut." Gary waved him off.

"Yea, yea. Let's just bail… now." Oliver offered to support him but Gary just waved him off again. The walked at a slower pace, they effectively have taken out almost all of the police force in the Vault, they weren't very worried now. As the continued down the hall to the Overseer's office, Gary stopped dead in his tracks.

"They're my friends. I was worried about them!" That was Amata. Gary turned to Oliver and held a finger up to his mouth, motioning him to quite down. They slide up against the wall and slowly went over to the nearest window, the prison. Gary peered inside, Amata was sitting on a chair, she had her head in her hands and she was crying.

"Be reasonable Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell us where your friends are so we can talk to him." That was her father, the Overseer. Amata looked up to her father.

"What do they have to do with any of this anyway?" Amata questioned.

"Probably nothing, which is why you should tell us where they are." Gary noticed someone standing next to the Overseer, Officer Mack.

"I think I should hit her again to knock some sense into her." That's all Gary needed to hear.

Oliver watched as his brother stood up straight and walked towards the door. "What the hell are you doing?" He hissed. Gary didn't respond at all. He took out his pistol and hit the button to open the door. Oliver watched through the window and saw Amata's face light up, and then a single bullet went off. Officer Mack's blood shot from his head and drenched the Overseer in a layer of red. Amata ran to Gary and threw her arms around him.

"Thank you! I told you my father wasn't himself!"

"Get out of here now." Amata looked at Gary, he had a no nonsense look about him. He didn't argue and ran to her apartment. Oliver followed his brother into the interrogation room with his brother. He was impressed with what Gary did, whole different side he rarely saw.

"You two better be here to turn yourselves in…" The Overseer started. Oliver started laughing and he pointed to the corpse of Officer Mack.

"Does that look like we're here to turn ourselves in?"

"If you ever lay your hands on Amata again, I'll make you regret it. You hear me?" Gary stared intensely at the Overseer.

"I place the good of the vault above all other things, even my own paternal feelings. We must not allow sentiment to cloud our judgment! But I admire your protective nature. Very well. I give you my word as the Overseer, and as her father, that Amata will not suffer further because of your actions."

"I'll keep you to your word on that. Now we'll just take the key and password to your office and you'll be out of your hair."

"Oh is that all? Is there anything else I could get you while you two are here?" The Overseer stated mockingly. "You'll get nothing from me. I'll die…"

"I suggest you watch what you promise there Alphons-o. We might take you to it." Oliver cracked a smile as he said it.

"Dammit! Can't you see that we've killed enough people here! I'd think that the corpses of your beloved Vault dwellers could get you to listen to reason!" Gary shouted.

"Another threat? I won't stand for it!" What happened next surprised both of the brothers. A shot rang out, and smoke came from a .32 that the Overseer brandished from God only knows where. Gary turned to Oliver. Oliver looked back at him and looked down. He placed his hand on his stomach and saw that his hand was covered in blood.

"Well sononva…" Oliver let out a little laugh, and fell to the ground before his brother's eyes. Gary stared wide-eyed as his brother, watching the life drain out of him. He turned to the Overseer. He looked down upon the dying North brother, not a morsel of remorse in his eyes.

"I must place the good of the Vault over everything." The Overseer muttered.

Time seemed to cease for a second, and then resume in slow motion. Gary didn't even realize that he drew his own firearm. Shots rang out as the Overseer stumbled backwards towards a wall. The wall was soon caked with his blood as he slowly slumped downwards, drawing more blood on the wall as he fell. The Overseer dropped his pistol to the ground, the last move he made.

Gary looked down; he held the 10mm pistol in his shaking hand. Smoke emitted from the gun, and five shells were on the floor. He then looked at the now dead Alphonse Almodovar, the Overseer, and the father of his friend.

"We got him good didn't we...?" Oliver's weak voice made Gary return to reality. He rushed to the aid of his brother, and rolled him over. He was surprised to see Oliver holding his own 10 mm pistol; several shells littered the ground around him. Gary ignored the overkill and rummaged around his pockets for a stimpack.

"Here lemme help you." Gary tore the hole in his brother's jumpsuit a little wider to expose more skin. He stabbed the stimpack into his brother's body, hoping it would hold him off before removing the bullet. "In a lot of pain?"

"You have no idea." Gary then removed the one Med-X he had from his pockets, and gave it to his brother. Oliver shook his head vigorously, the chems flowing through his body. "Now lets…" Oliver stopped, hearing the clicking of boot heels running down the hall. Amata entered the room and screamed through uncontrollable tears.

"Daddy! No!" She ran past the brothers and to her father's side. She placed her head on his shoulder and cried, heavy, heavy sobs. Gary slowly stood up, and started to walk over to Amata.

"Amata… I… he…" Gary was at a loss of words, a rare occasion for him. He put a hand on her shoulder, wishing to comfort her. How do you comfort a girl whose father you just killed?

"Get away from me!" Amata slapped Gary's hand off her shoulder. "I can't talk to you." Oliver saw his brother's reaction, he truly felt for his brother. Gary's head dropped and he walked to his brother and lifted him up. Oliver put his arm around his brother, getting some support from him. As they walked out, Oliver shouted back to Amata.

"It was all me, I killed him. You can't blame my brother." Gary was surprised, his brother was never one to stick up for him; essentially they looked out for their own hides, never each others. Oliver saw his brother's smile and returned it with a head nod.

The two entered the Overseer's office. Next to a fallen chair was Jonas. His body was bruised and bloodied. His glasses were smashed and there were noticeable bruises covering his face. Blood covered the ground he laid around. Gary set down his brother for a moment and bent down to Jonas. He closed Jonas' eyes respectively and bowed his head in prayer. Jonas was a friend, yet neither brother could bring themselves to cry.

Oliver started rummaging through Jonas' pockets. He retrieved a stimpack and an audio disk. He tossed it to his brother. "We should get out of here."

Gary quickly checked the Overseer's door. "It's locked, gimme a sec." Gary took out one of the bobby pins that Amata gave him along with a screwdriver he had in his back pocket. He opened the door with ease, which cause a minor chuckle from his brother.

"That's not the first time you've done that."

Gary on the other hand wasn't in the laughing mood. "No it's not." He put the audio disk into his pipboy and played it. He then picked up his brother again and they made their way into the main office. The pipboy's audio function crackled to life. The brothers were greeted by their father's voice

_"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I... I don't really know how to tell you two this. I hope you'll understand, but I know the two of you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you guys not to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're both adults now. You two don't need your father anymore.. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe and with each other. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."_

Oliver pointed to the computer terminal and they walked over to it. Oliver let his brother try and figure out the password and he leaned against the Overseer's desk. Jonas spoke next.

_"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."_

"Got it." Gary figured out the password after hacking the computer. It was 'Amata'. He connected his pipboy to the computer and started to download files from the computer. He stopped when he heard his father's voice again.

_"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you, boys."_

Neither of them were emotional types, far from it actually, but both of them were struck with a sudden pang of sadness. Oliver sniffed loudly, and wiped his nose with his sleeve. A single tear ran down Gary's cheek. The words 'I love you, boys.' Constantly rang in his ears. He shook the tear off and clicked the button on the keyboard that opened the Overseer's tunnel.

Oliver jumped when the desk he was leaning on started to rise. Gary caught him and slung his arm around his brother's waist. A staircase revealed itself to the duo. 'We're actually getting out of here.' Gary thought to himself.

Similar thoughts were going through Oliver's mind. 'No more Vault. No more being told what to do. Let's do this.'

They walked down the stairs which led to a lower level of the Vault. There was a lack of light, so the brothers put on their pipboy lights, illuminating the small hallway. There was a few radroaches skittering across the floor; Oliver introduced them to the heel of his boot.

The two eventually came upon the exit to the Vault, and the entrance to the World. It was a large cog made of thick, rusted metal. Attached to the ceiling was a large rod like device, they assumed it would open up the path to their freedom.

Silently, they made there way to the mechanism that controlled the door. Gary pulled down a lever and an alarm similar to the one ringing throughout the Vault blared loudly. A yellow light started rotating, basking the two in light. In the door behind them there was shouting, yet neither of them could make out what was being said.

The large cog-door made a high pitched noise as the instrument hanging on the ceiling hit it. "Well I'll be damned…" Oliver muttered. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He tapped his brother on the shoulder, Gary turned and his demeanor changed. Amata ran towards them, but quickly looked away. She turned to the door.

"Oh my God… you two actually opened it…"

"Told you we would." Oliver grunted through his teeth. Amata looked at him and had a look of disgust.

"Well good. You're leaving." She directed the next part to Gary, there was a lighter note to her tone yet certain harshness was still in it. "I guess you were trying to help me. But you…" Tears ran down her face. Gary extended an arm but Amata shook it away. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"I-I'm sorry, Amata. I just reacted, I didn't have a choice! He shot my brother! It's not like I wanted to kill him!" Gary was slowly losing his composure, everything around him was falling apart; the life he once had was gone.

There was a loud screech. The three Vault dwellers looked at the now open Vault door. Amata wiped her tears with her hands. "Just…" She looked down at her feet. "Just get out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Oliver pushed away from Gary and started walking towards the now open Vault door; he used the railing to his left to support himself as he headed down the stairs.

Gary turned to Amata and put his hands on her shoulders. "Amata, please just listen to me. Come with us, there's nothing left for you here." Amata looked him in the eye, the tears still swelling up in her eyes. Gary tried to give a reassuring squeeze. "Please, Amata."

"I- I can't, not now, not after what you did." Gary was heartbroken. He released his grip on her and flipped up the visor on the guard helmet he had on.

"Then I guess I'll see you." Before Amata had the chance to respond, he kissed her on the lips. He felt her tense up from the surprise, but she slowly eased up. Gary's hands ran down her arms, he grabbed her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"No..." Amata pulled away suddenly. She started walking away, but she kept her grip on Gary's hands. "Go…"

"We have you now!" Gary jumped back as two officers opened up the door to their side. He waved his hands to Amata as he jumped down the stairs.

"GO!" Amata ran off in the direction she came from, not before shooting one final glance in the North brothers' direction.

"Shit! We have to go!" Oliver shouted as he pulled out his pistol; he was outside of Vault 101, dirt was under his boots. Gary practically dove out of the Vault as the two guards ran towards him. Oliver pulled the trigger four times, mainly just to make the guards stop. To the brothers' surprise, the guards stopped on their own.

"There's no way I'm going out there!" Said one, he started to back away.

"I'm not that crazy!" Responded the other. Oliver couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the guards, they were afraid. There were skeletons on the ground and several signs reading 'We're dying assholes!' and 'Let us in motherfuckers!' Oliver crouched down and pick up a skeleton, he threw it into the Vault. After that he chucked in a sign.

"Something to remember us by!" He holstered his pistol. Oliver stumbled a little, he felt lightheaded. Just as he was about to hit the ground, his brother caught him. Oliver looked his brother in the eye, Gary shot him a smile.

"How 'bout we get outta here?" Oliver couldn't agree with him more. The two brothers proceed to a wooden door in the distance. Light seeped through the poorly made door, light from the sun. A loud screeching was heard behind them as the Vault door closed.

"No turning back."

"No turning back."

They gave one final look at each other before Gary pushed open the door. Light covered their bodies; they took a step blindly into the Capital Wasteland, not knowing how much it would truly change their lives.


	2. Welcome to the Scenic Capital Wasteland

**Hey everyone, I just figured I would tell you all that this is my first story. I'm trying to improve my writing so any criticism would be appreciated**

**That goes for comments as well, feel free to speak your mind. Comments would probably keep me going, because I have no idea if people like this or not.**

**I'm also trying to decide if I should shorten the length of the chapters and update more frequently…hm…**

**Oh yes and CallxOfxPuberty I appreciate the first comment.**

**Anyway, time for Chapter 2!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2: Welcome to the Scenic Capital Wasteland<strong>_

_I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it._

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><p>"Jesus Christ!" Both brothers dropped to the ground. The light coming from all around them blinded them. So much for admiring what was outside. "Someone turn off the damned light switch out here!" Oliver North shouted. He started rubbing his eyes vigorously, hoping to regain his vision.<p>

"We should have found some tinted glasses before we left. The manual to the Vault always said that if the world became inhabitable that we should find darkened glasses." Gary North tried to throw some logic. He was facing down, holding his eyes shut. Personally he didn't think it would be that bright out here. Gary always thought the sun would be blocked from clouds or something. He took off the Vault guard visor he had on and threw it to the ground in order to rub his eyes.

"Always the voice of reason, eh?" Oliver regained his sight, and looked up from the ground and out towards the area around Washington DC. "Holy crap…" He didn't know what to say.

"What?" Gary squinted and looked up, holding his hands over his eyes to shield them from further damage from the sun. His jaw dropped at the pure and utter destruction of the area.

Rock and dirt surrounded them, but in the distance there were the ruined remains of buildings. These structures were simply skeletons of their former selves. Even farther away was a single spire with gaping holes, the years had not been kind to it.

"We gotta check this out." Oliver slowly stood up, he wobbled a little but planted a steady posture. He held his abdomen; blood had drenched his blue and yellow jumpsuit.

"Not just yet." Gary placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "We have to fix you up first."

"I'm fine, really." And as if God was poking fun at Oliver, he fell to the ground as he tried to walk.

"Don't move, I'm patching you up, and getting that bullet." Gary started unloading his pockets of all of his medical supplies. "You feeling any pain?" Inquiring about the Med-X that he previously gave his brother.

"No, the chems are still workin'."

"Good, cuz this minor surgery of ours may hurt." Gary grabbed a scalpel and a set of tweezers. He made an incision at the entry wound to make slightly larger so he could successfully fit tweezers in. The bullet didn't penetrate that deep, so recovering it was a fairly simple task. Gary grinned as he removed the bullet, his first successful "surgery" in the wasteland.

He put down the scalpel and the tweezers and then took out a needle with some surgical thread. The needle penetrated Oliver's skin, he struck blood but he didn't seem to notice. Gary nimbly sewed up the wound, good as new.

He held up the bullet he got from Oliver's body. "Want it as a souvenir?" Oliver slapped it out of his brother's hand.

"Get outta here. Give me bandages so I could patch myself up." Gary smirked and removed a roll of bandages from his jumpsuit; he tossed it to his brother, who was now propped up on a rock. He walked out towards a ledge overlooking the wasteland. There was a single tilted sign; it read 'Scenic Overlook'.

'Scenic overlook my ass.' Gary thought to himself. There was a road that led to a small town, both were in horrible condition. Large chunks of concrete were missing from the road while some cars were overturned. The town was in ruins, only the support structures were left, yet there was nothing to support.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gary saw movement. He turned to his right; down the road was a man. The man was dressed in strange rags, typical wasteland garb he assumed. The man was staring up and Gary, motionless. At first he wasn't sure if the man was going to attack or if he was simply watching.

"Hey! Sir we just got out here! Could you help us out?" Gary shouted, waving a hand. The man quickly turned and ran away. Great, first encounter with the natives and it was a complete bust.

"Who the hell are you shouting to?" Oliver asked. He managed to get up on his own; he tossed the bandage roll to his brother.

"No one now, the guy ran." Gary caught the roll and placed it in his pocket. Oliver joined his brother at the ledge overlooking the small town; he responded with a whistle.

"Well, where to next?" Oliver guessed that they would look for their dad, but who knows where the hell he could be. They didn't even know if he stayed in the immediate area.

"No idea, I guess we could wander aimlessly for a bit, hope to find someone who isn't feral, and get some info."

"Sounds fairly vague if you ask me." The two brothers started walking down a hill that led to the road.

"Oh and I just know you have a better plan, right?" Gary shot back. They were now in the town. There didn't appear to be anything noteworthy within its boundaries.

"Of course I have a better plan; I just want to make you feel important by using yours." Oliver said with a grin. He figured that with his brother, the two could survive on pure sarcasm alone in this crazy wasteland.

There was a slight hum that arouse behind the brothers. They quickly turned around, weapons in hand. A giant metallic orb, about the size of a basketball, was hovering above the ground. As the orb lessened the distance between itself and the brothers, patriotic music was audible.

"What the hell? Moral boosting flying robot?" Oliver questioned. He saw Gary move closer to the object, examining it carefully. His brother always wanted to know how things worked; this mystery object was no exception.

"I don't know if it is Pre-War, I don't think it would be able to maintain itself for that long. That means someone out here is civilized enough to make robot play music."

"I'm just giddy with anticipation of meeting this 'civilized' people." Gary laughed at his brother's quip and they continued on their merry way. They passed what appeared to be a Pre-War gas station of some sort. A Nuka Cola machine stood amongst the rubble, the neon light going on and off.

Oliver walked towards the vending machine and stuck his hand up the slot where one receives the cola. Gary watched as his brother wiggled his arm around. Oliver stopped and his face lit up. He removed his arm from the machine and tossed something to Gary. Gary caught it with ease, a Nuka Cola. Oliver walked over to him with one of his own.

He held up the bottle, "Cheers." They brothers hit the bottles together and removed the caps. Both took a hardy chug of Cola before continuing up the road. In front of them was a large makeshift sign made from large chunks of scrap metal; it read 'Megaton' and there was an arrow pointing to their right.

"Cross your fingers that they're civilized." Gary joked. A sudden burst of energy came over the two; realizing that they may finally get some information. They reached the end of the road; Megaton, or what was assumed to be Megaton, was towering over them.

"Well that's… thinking outside of the box…" Oliver thought aloud. The town was made of metal, probably taken off of random items strewn about the wastes. There was one large turbine in the middle of colossal pieces of metal. Above the turbine was a walkway, where a man with a rifle stood watching the Wasteland.

Gary broke the silence. "Uh… shall we?" Oliver turned to his brother and nodded. The two downed their colas before proceeding the town's makeshift gates. To their left was a man in rags. He started motioning to the brothers.

"Please… do you have any water?"

"I take it water is hard to come by around here?" Gary asked.

"No, I've been drinking this irradiated crap. I need purified water." The man gave a loud cough, as if he was to spit out a lung.

"I apologize but we don't have any water." Oliver pushed Gary before he could say anymore. He didn't care for this man's problems; they had problems of their own.

The two walked up to the gates of Megaton; a robot stood in front. "Open the gates. Open the gates." A loud screech was heard as the turbine fired up. Wind was quickly sucked in as the metal blades spun rapidly. The two large sheets of metal that once covered the huge opening moved up, revealing another gate. "Welcome to Megaton, friendliest town around." The robot continued in its monotone voice.

"I hate robots…" Oliver grumbled as they pushed past the doors and into Megaton. The large makeshift buildings were essentially based around a crater with a large… "What the hell is that a bomb?" So it was, the town was based around a bomb, great thinking.

"I'll be damned, more new comers." A voice got the Gary's attention. Standing in front of them was an African American male with a beard and a muscular build for his age. He wore a long trench coat with a star on it, and to 'top' it all off he had a cowboy hat. The man introduced himself. "Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff; and mayor too, when the need arises. Ya know, I don't know why, but I like you boys. Something tells me you're all right. So welcome to Megaton! Just holler if you need something."

Gary spoke up first, the last thing he needed was his brother saying one of his witty comments. He imagined Oliver was still looking around. "Nice town you got here sheriff. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lucas seemed taken aback. "Friendly AND well mannered? I think we're gonna get along just fine. You treat my people nice, and you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like."

And then Oliver joined the conversation with a 'pffff.' He started laughing. "Nice hat there buddy." Gary smacked himself in the face. Here we go.

Lucas Simms squinted his eyes at Oliver and shook his head. "Well I take back what I said before then. At least about him."

"Please excuse my brother, he's chronically enfeebled, I'm Gary North." Gary extended his hand. Simms responded with a firm hand shake. "This is Oliver." Gary added in quickly, jabbing a thumb in the direction of his brother. Oliver had his arms crossed; he didn't plan on shaking the sheriff's hand.

Simms released a sigh and then looked to Gary. "Is there anything I could help you with while you're here?"

"Uh yea actually, we're looking for our father. He's a middle aged guy, gray hair. Have you seen him?"

"Sorry son, but I got enough fires to put out in this place that I don't have time to keep tabs on every visitor. I'd ask around town." Gary sighed at the sheriff's response; he was hoping he'd know at least something.

"Where should we start?" Oliver added in.

"I'd check with Moriarty, he runs the bar around here. If you head up in that direction you'll get to his bar. It is on the top level of the town." Oliver walked off before anything else was added to the conversation.

"I'm sorry about my brother. By the way sir, is there anywhere we could earn some money? We're both kinda broke and could use the money." Gary was kind of embarrassed to admit that he didn't have any money.

"Yes I suppose you do need some caps. Well you..."

Gary interrupted Lucas. "I'm sorry Lucas but did you say caps?"

Lucas looked at Gary questioningly. "Yes caps, bottle caps are the form of currency of out here; did you live in a Vault or something?"

Gary laughed nervously, "Um yea actually." Lucas stared at him for a brief second, and then laughed hardily.

"Well I do suppose I should have figured that out, and here I just though you and your brother were trying to make bold fashion statements!" Both men laughed at the comment, Lucas continued when they settled down. "Moira brown of crater-side supply should have some odd jobs, you could check the water purification plant, and Moriarty may have some jobs but I would advise against that. Oh and of course you could always trade items you find out in the wastes."

Gary nodded; this Moriarty character didn't appear to be someone he'd want to associate with. "Duly noted, thanks for your help sheriff."

* * *

><p>Oliver entered Moriarty's saloon, it was dimly lit and had an environment of one he'd expect from a bar. He walked up to the bar and rapped his knuckles on the counter to get the bartenders attention. The man turned around and Oliver was taken aback.<p>

"Gah! The fuck are you?" the man, Oliver wasn't sure if he could call him a man, had peeling skin and no nose. There were tuffs of hair on his head; mainly his scalp was exposed.

"What, you never see a ghoul before, smoothskin?" well he had to be a man, because he talked. His voice was very rough, agreeing with his appearance.

"Now that you mention it... No. What's a 'ghoul'?" Oliver slowly sat down on a stool.

"Well you see, not all of us had the protection of a Vault when the bombs fell. A bunch of us got stuck out here in the world, and got a full blast of radiation. It essentially turned us into a pack of walking corpses. As far as I could tell, we age slower then you. A lot slower. There are even a few ghouls that were alive during the war." Oliver unconsciously felt himself reaching towards his own face. "But of course with a face like ground Brahmin meat, you can imagine that folks don't take too kindly to us."

"The hell is a Brahmin?"

The ghoul shook his head and looked at Oliver, ignoring his comment. "I'm just surprised you haven't it me yet."

That was an odd statement. "Your people haven't pissed me off, I have no reason to." these 'ghouls' were odd creatures.

"Wow, well I like you smoothskin, don't tell Moriarty, but I'll give you a discount." There was the name.

"Tell me, where could I find this Moriarty?"

The ghoul looked around, as if he was being watched. "He's probably in his room behind the bar, knock on the door if you want, but don't tell him anything about me." the ghoul was clearly afraid of the bar owner. Oliver wanted to meet this guy.

Oliver got up from his stool and proceeded to head around the counter. To his left was a women with red hair; she followed him with her eyes as he walked to the door. A part of him felt good about her admiring him. Women always seemed to look at his brother, he had no idea.

Oliver knocked on the door and waited for a response, none. Oliver knocked again, this time a little bit harder. Just as he was about to knock again the door popped open, nearly hitting him in the face.

"The fuck you want?" the man had a leather vest and gray hair. His voice had a thick Irish accent.

"You Moriarty?"

"Yea, who the hell is askin?"

"I am, I'm Oliver north. I'm lookin for my father; I was told maybe you'd know where he is." Oliver noticed a change in Moriarty's face.

"My god… It's you. The little baby boy, all grown up. Persistent little bastard, ain't ya? Then and now, it would seem. It's been a long time, kid. But I thought there were two of ya." Oliver stared at the man, what was going on? "Oh, your daddy passed through here, all right. Here and gone. Got what he came fer, and then left. I'm assuming you'll do the same, correct?"

"The hell you talking about Moriarty? We were born in the Vault!" Oliver was losing his temper, this guy was screwing around with him.

"Is that what your father told you? That you were born in that hole! That HE was born there as well? Ha!" Moriarty pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "Oh, the lies we tell to those we love."

"Your father brought you to the Vault right after you were born. To keep you and that other bloody baby safe. I remember it well- you stayed in my saloon, after all." Oliver was practically fuming; this guy was feeding him shit! "That's right. Your father, his Brotherhood of Steel friend, and then you and the other child; suckling babes with nary a tit to suckle. Sorry about your mom kid, truly.

"Life goes on though right? Daddy lied. Life's full of little disappointments. An now… you're all grown up, and wondering where he's gone to…I'm still wondering what happened to the other babe with you…"

"Stop giving me bullshit!" Oliver shouted. The patrons of the bar gave him sidelong glances while drinking.

"You know, I heard about the brainwashin' that goes on down there. From some other fella, escaped, oh… five years back." Moriarty was using sarcasm now. "'All hail the Overseer! We're born in the Vault; we die in the Vault!' And all of that other lunacy." Moriarty chuckled at his own joke.

"Kid, you've got better programming than our own Deputy Weld outside. You'd best wise up quick, ya know that?" Moriarty became serious quickly. "I'm going to be straight with you. Your James was here, and now he's not. I know where he went, yes, but you're asking for information. Information around here happens to be a bit of a commodity. Lets say a couple hundred caps… and your daddy's location is yours."

"I don't have that kind of money! I just escaped the goddamn Vault!"

Moriarty scratched his goatee. "All right then, let me help you out for old time's sake. Since you don't have the caps to pay me for the info, how about you do a little favor for me.

"You want me to do you damned dirty work?" Oliver questioned, the rage still behind his voice.

"That's one way to think of it. Listen, this junkie bitch named Silver borrowed quite a few caps from me… claimed she could start funneling Jet and Psycho to me for a good price."

"I'm listening."

"Well the problem is that she scrammed with the loot and set herself up in Springvale so she could inject herself into a stupor. Get me the caps she owes me and they're yours. Your's to pay me with anyway." Moriarty started laughing; Oliver hated this son of a bitch. He may have hated him, but he realized he was speaking the truth.

Without another word, Oliver stormed out of the bar, intent on getting the money.

* * *

><p>After Gary talked to Lucas Simms he went into the water purification plant that they had in Megaton. It appeared that some pipes in the town had sprung leaks; Gary was getting paid to fix them up so the water pressure would rise.<p>

Just as Gary exited the building, someone ran into him.

"Oh sorry, sorry." it was a woman; her voice was sweet but had a nervous edge to it.

"It's alright, simple accident." Gary looked at the woman; she was around his age, possibly a bit older. She had blond hair put up in a fashion that reminded him of Amata's hair. She had an attractive face, one that wasn't ruined by the effects of the Wasteland. After a slightly awkward moment the women smiled, looked to the floor and left. Gary scratched his head and shook it off, maybe he'd find her later.

Gary continued down the metal walkway. To his right was Crater side supply, he'd go there after he went to the bar and met up with Oliver.

"Yo!" well speak of the devil. Oliver came running up to him from the direction of the bar. His face was red, never a good sign.

"Why did you go off ahead of me?"

"I wasn't in the mood for BSing with that guy. Besides I have info for you." there was certain anxiousness in Oliver's tone, with a hint of anger.

"Is it about dad?"

"Yea you could say that. Did you know that that sonova bitch has lied to us our entire lives?"

Now Gary was angry, why the hell would he start bad mouthing their dad? He stuck an accusatory finger in his brother's face. "What the hell are you taking about?"

Oliver placed his hands on his brother's shoulders and gave him a slight shake. "We weren't born in the vault." he released his grip and allowed his brother to sink in the new info. Gary skipped a heart beat. In his mind, he tried to rationalize everything.

"No, no who told you this?"

"Moriarty did, he said he knew dad before we went to vault 101."

"Well what if he was..."

"Lying? What would he gain from lying to us? He would have no reason even if he is a scum bag." Gary listened to his brother and ran his hand through his hair.

"Alright alright, but let's not jump to conclusions until we see dad and ask him ourselves. Did you find out where he was?"

"I have to complete a job for Moriarty before he tells me."

"Well let's go then! We have no time to waste." Oliver held back him brother.

"No, I'm goin alone; you need to earn us some cash so we could fund our future excursions." Gary shook his head in protest to his brother's response.

"No, I can't let you go out there alone. You don't know what's out there. So what if we didn't see anything on our first walk! We probably just got lucky!"

"Listen to me; I could handle myself and so could you. I'll meet you at the cratered bomb in a couple hours, alright?" Gary let out a breath, he could handle himself. He agreed to the proposition and gave Oliver a quick manly brotherly hug. "Oh by the way, do something with this." Oliver tossed the be-be gun he previously used as a bludgeon to Gary. They parted and walked their separate ways.

Gary made his way into the conveniently named Crater Side supply. The building had a high ceiling and was made of scrap metal like every other building in the area. A man was leaning up against a wall, next to a work bench. A woman with fiery red hair was talking to a man about the same height as Gary with an eye patch.

Gary stood silently, waiting for their conversation to end. The man with the eye patch stopped and motioned to Gary. The red headed turned around and looked and Gary.

"Umm I'm looking for a Moira Brown? I was told maybe I could get some kind of job?" the woman's face seemed to light up, it actually kind of scared Gary.

"Oh oh! That's me! Are you one of the strays from the vault? I haven't seen one of you in years! I heard that there were two of you." Gary was surprised he asked how she heard of him, she said news traveled fast. Gary laughed nervously. "Anyway, I'm Moira Brown, I run Crater-Side Supply, I tinker and research a bit here and there too."

"You're from the vault? Well hot damn it's nice to meetcha!" the man with the eye patch extended a hand, "I'm Billy Creel, but most people just call me Billy." Gary smiled and shook his hand. The man's appearance betrayed his great personality. Gary was personally glad that he has met so many nice people in the wastes.

"Nice to meet the both of you. My brother and I need some money before we go off looking for our dad, but we need money first. I was told by Lucas Simms that you may have a job for me ma'am?"

Moira clapped her hands together. "I have the perfect job for you! I'm working on a book about the Wasteland—it'd be great to have the foreword by a vault dweller. Help me out, wouldn't you?"

The woman was certainly forward. "Uh, sure I guess I'd have plenty of things to say about life in the Vault." Moira clapped her hands together, obviously pleased to here his agreement.

"Great!" Moira ran behind the counter and started searching around, she appeared again with a pencil and paper. "OK, just tell me what it's like to live underground all your life. Going in detail would be great. Oh! Oh! And if you could talk about leaving for the first time that would be just amazing!"

Gary scratched his head; he never felt more on the spot before. Billy spoke up, "Hey, you mind if I stick around? I'd love to hear your story."

Gary looked at him and nodded. "Uh yea sure you're more then welcome to stay. Well I guess I could start with daily life…"

* * *

><p>Oliver left Megaton and was now passing by the town he and his brother walked through on their way from the vault; his pipboy said that the place was called Springvale. Moriarty said that the person he needed to get the money from lived in a small house near the town.<p>

Oliver kept his hands close to his sides, his pistol on his right and his baton on his left. He imagined the med x he received from his brother earlier had worn off, yet he didn't feel any pain. There were no signs of life in the Wasteland, he imagined giant mutated animals and bands of feral people, yet he had seen nothing.

There was a house to he left of the road, another building was off in the distance. Oliver went towards to door, he didn't even know if the place was inhabited. He went for the handle, the door opened easily. Oliver walked in, baton now in hand.

"The hell?" a woman's voice came from another room of the small ranch house. The woman was blond, nice body, OK face. "Who the hell are you? Where did you come from? Did Moriarty send you?"

"Slow down lady. Yes he did send me; he says you owe him some caps." Oliver may have appeared calm, but he would pop this lady if she tried anything.

"That bastard! He… he's a liar! He just wants me dead! Those caps are all mine. I earned them!" The lady was getting frantic, swinging her hands in the air as she spoke.

"Settle down before I put you down lady. What's your story."

"Look… I used to work for that slob. Doing… you know… favors for guys." That peaked Oliver's interest. "Well guess what? I got sick and tired of it. I told Moriarty I'm taking my share of the caps and leaving. I even slept with the pig to seal the deal!"

Oliver leaned up against a wall. "And?"

"The next fuckin' morning he tells me I couldn't leave. So I bolted! I took the money and ran. Now I've been branded a thief."

Oliver thought he'd try and put on the charm. "Listen hun, give me the caps, and I'll tell him you're dead. If I have all the caps he'll assume you're dead and he'll be none the wiser. How about it, we have a deal?"

"You'd do that for me? Wow... thanks kid. You're all right." Silver went back into her bedroom, Oliver followed. She retrieved a bag of caps. "500 caps in total. Take them, and don't come back." Oliver examined the bag; he assumed 500 caps was a lot out here. Oliver pocketed the caps, he had one more thing to ask.

"You still offer your services?"

Silver sneered. "Kid, that was a past life, and I wouldn't do it with you no matter how much you paid me." That set Oliver off, the fuck was that supposed to mean.

"Fuckin' bitch." Oliver shouted. He shot across the room and back handed Silver. She screamed and reached for her gun. Oliver kicked her in the stomach and tossed the pistol across the room. He lifted the woman by the throat, she was surprisingly light, and threw her on the bed. He jumped on top of her and ripped open her shirt, grabbing her breasts…

* * *

><p>Gary walked out of Crater Side Supply with Billy, who seemed to be just as excited about Gary's story as Moira. "Damn man that's a hellova story! I don't think I've ever heard anythin like it!" Billy clapped his hand on Gary's shoulder.<p>

"I'm glad you liked it. I'm also glad that Moira liked it enough to give me this new jumpsuit and a job." The new jumpsuit was reinforced with leather in certain areas; there was a belt that could contain ammo in various pockets, and holster, and a bandolier. He sold his armor since the new jumpsuit made it obsolete in his eyes. Moira also wanted the North brothers to be her research partners. There first mission was to raid a grocery story out in the Wastes not too far from Megaton. He also traded his baseball bat for a combat knife; he figured it would be easier to carry around.

"Would you be able to tell your story to Maggie? I'm sure she would love it." Gary looked at Billy questioningly.

"I'm sorry, who's Maggie?"

"Oh man I'm sorry." Billy laughed a bit. "I tend to get ahead of myself, Maggie is my daughter. Well I've never had a daughter, but if I did, I'd want her to be Maggie. When I used to wander the Capital Wasteland, I found her after a raider party killed her parents. I took her in and we've been together ever since."

Gary was impressed; he never thought he'd find such kindness out here. Thinking about it, he hasn't really found much to worry about. "Well I'd be glad to sometime. There's no rush, we aren't leaving anytime soon."

"In that case, you wanna get a drink up at Moriarty's? My treat."

"I appreciate the offer, Billy, but I have some things I gotta wrap up before the day is done. However, me and my brother could probably meet you over there at night."

"Sounds good, I'll see ya then." The two shook hands and went off in different directions. Gary still had to find the pipes that needed repairing. Gary looked up; the sun had just fallen from its highest point in the sky. He wondered where his brother was, the sky would start darkening soon.

"Well no point in standing around; I better get some work done." Gary set off to find the leaking pipes. The first two were fairly easy to find, seeing that they were on the ground level of Megaton. The third pipe was high up on the walkways overlooking most of the town. Gary hopped over the railing of the walkway to reach it, he was on some roof. Needless to say with his past experience in mechanics he was easily able to fix each of the leaks with tape, glue, and some metal.

Gary walked back to the water treatment plant. "Yo Walter! I got each of the pipes fixed." The elderly African American man walked out from a different room that Gary couldn't see. He wiped his greasy hands with a rag from his pocket.

"Huh? Oh right, let me check." Walter grumbled. He walked over to a large machine; apparently it monitored the water pressure. Walter seemed surprised. "Well you actually did it! Here are your caps." Walter removed a small brown bag from his pocket and handed it to Gary. The money jingled as it transferred hands. It was nice to finally have some cash.

"If you ever need any more help just hollar." Gary was about to walk out but Walter interrupted him.

"Well, ya see I could always use some scrap metal because I don't think I'll always have people like you to repair pipes for me."

Gary smiled and nodded in approval. "Yea sure if I come across any I'll make sure I give it to you." With that, he opened the door and headed outside. He would stock up on medical supplies and grab some grub while he waited for Oliver. He was good on ammunition; he had two clips and the one in the 10mm pistol.

Gary walked down the road that led to the bomb in the middle of the town. He still couldn't believe that the town was centered around a nuclear warhead. To his right was the building he was told to be the clinic. In front of it was a… two headed cow? A man was standing next to the animal drinking water.

"Uh pardon me sir… but what is that thing?" Gary asked, pointing to the cow. The man practically laughed in Gary's face.

"It's a Brahmin, you've never seen one?" Gary told him no. "What have you been living in a Vault?" Apparently the man didn't notice the apparel Gary was dressed in, a jacket from VAULT 101 and a VAULT 101 jumpsuit. Gary ignored the comment and walked into the clinic. A man was sitting at a table right near the door. He didn't look up, just continued writing on a chart.

Gary cleared his throat to make his attention known. The man looked up. "You look fine, why are you here?" Well hello to you too.

"I'm Gary, I'm new here. I was hoping I would be able to buy some medical supplies?"

"Yea sure fine." The man pointed to a shelf to his left, that contained various medical supplies. Gary sighed, so much for the optimal experience of meeting nice people. He picked up two syringes of med-x and two packs of radaway. The man held out a chart that had prices on them and held out his hand, expecting his payment. Gary dug into the bag he had of caps and gave the presumed doctor his payment.

"By the way, what's the news around town? From doctor to doctor?" The man looked up at Gary.

"You're a doctor?"

"Well at least I was in the Vault before I left."

"I guess not may people are smart enough to stock up on medical supplies so I guess you must have _some_ medical experience. Disregarding doctor-patient confidentiality, Leo Stahl, I don't know if you know him?" Gary shook his head. "Well the boy has a serious chem problem. I don't think his family even knows."

"Hmm well thanks doc, I'll see if I could help him." Gary left the clinic, shutting the door behind him. There was a building that appeared to have some kind of outdoor bar. There were several stools; Gary took a seat next to a man with an assault rifle on his back. A woman in a yellow jumpsuit walked up to him from behind the counter.

"Welcome to the Brass Lantern! I… wait… oh you two are twins?" Gary looked at her oddly, what was she talking about?

"Hey brother." That was Oliver. Gary leaned onto the counter to look past the man with the assault rife. Oliver was sitting down eating some kind of meat. "Where have you been?"

"What the hell happened to you?" Oliver had blood on his face and clothes; he didn't even manage to clean up.

"I met the locals." He took a big chunk of the meat and swallowed.

"Would you two fuckin' move or something? I don't need your spit on my Goddamn food!" The man in between them shouted. Gary looked at him, he looked older, not from age, but from experience in the Wastes. His hair was shaved but he had a brown goatee.

"Sorry Jericho." Oliver stood up and was seated next to Gary. "Get somethin' to eat…"

* * *

><p>Oliver zipped up his jumpsuit and strapped his armor back on. Silver was knocked out; blood from her nose covered her skin. Her breasts were perfect, and even when she resisted she was still great.<p>

Oliver ransacked the house; he found another hundred caps hiding behind a cabinet, a switchblade, and took her .32 pistol and all her ammo. Oliver started walking towards the front door. He was about to put his hand on the door handle when the door busted down. A male was one the other side of the doorway. He was dirty and had a purple mohawk. He had what looked like a tire around his arm and armored pants. Three more people were behind him; all were just as dirty and were adorned in various scraps of leather.

"Take the girly back the school! Slaughter this fucker!" Shouted the purpled haired one. Oliver jumped backwards, taking out the new switchblade. He knew there was a door behind him; he just had to get there before they caught a hold of him. Purple hair struck at him with a kitchen knife, which got caught within Oliver's armor. Oliver was just relieved it didn't go deep enough to affect him.

Oliver grabbed the raider's arm and dug his switchblade deep into his throat. The man gurgled as Oliver drew the blade across his throat. Blood shot out as the artery's were ripped apart, caking Oliver's face and hair with blood. Quickly thinking, he kicked the corpse of purple hair into his crowd of raider goons. Oliver turned around and shouldered the back door to Silver's house. It fell to the ground, dust shot up.

Oliver pocketed his switchblade and started running. He wasn't sure if he could handle that entire group of crazed raiders. As far as he was concerned his best way of living would be to get to Megaton. Adrenaline coursed through his entire body as his legs took him as fast as they possibly could. From behind him he heard shouts of rage. Oliver heard a cackling laughter as a raider tackled him from the side. Where the fuck did they come from?

"You're mine now bitch!" It was female raider, scantily clad in some odd metal garb. She tried to push a knife into Oliver's chest. He managed to grab her hand as they struggled on the ground. As the knife was at a standpoint, Oliver went for the .32 on his side. He lifted up the gun and pulled back the hammer. With a loud bang, the raider woman dropped, brain matter and skull fragments littered the ground around. Oliver threw the body off him and wiped off blood from his face, smearing it across his nose.

Oliver got up and quickly ran in the direction of Megaton. As he was running, gun shots started going off behind him, pistols. "Dammit!" Oliver shouted, he thought they just had blades. He started returning fire as he ran, occasionally turning around to at least fire in their general direction. He ran out of ammo quickly seeing that the .32 was a revolver. The click was one of the worst sounds he had ever heard.

Oliver quickly got over the hill that led to Megaton and started waving up to the guard on the crow's nest above the town. "Open the damn gate I'm gettin' chased!" He wasn't sure if the raiders had followed him this far, but he wasn't prepared to check. The gate seemed to take forever as he waited. As soon as the doors were opened in the slightest, he slid inside. Oliver slumped over and tried to catch his breath. He had just experienced the Capital Wasteland's raiders.

Oliver ran his hand through his hair and started walking down the road towards the bomb and the crater in the center of town. He saw a restaurant type area and he sat down on a stool next to a man concentrating on his bits of meat. "Uh could I see a menu?" Oliver asked a woman standing behind the counter. She smiled at him, despite the sheer amount of blood on him.

"Now I now I've never seen you before, even if you're covered in blood. I'm Jenny Stahl, welcome to the Brass Lantern!" She had a piece of paper with a list of food, she gave it to Oliver. "Here you go."

Oliver nodded and looked through, none of it sounded particularly appetizing. He noticed a Brahmin stake on the list. "Excuse me, but what the hell is a brahmin?"

"Ignorant wasteland assholes." Mumbled the guy next to Oliver. Before Jenny had a chance to respond, Oliver turned to the man.

"You have a problem with me baldy?"

"Jericho, don't start anything…" Jenny said quietly.

"I have a problem with you ignorant fucks. I bet you're the guy from the Vault eh? I bet you think you're better then us too? All prim and proper?"

"Nice deducing skills there Sherlock."

"There you go with your fancy Vault education." The man, Jericho, wave his hand in the air as he said it.

"Well it wouldn't take much to be better then yours." Oliver saw Jericho crack a smile. He was enjoying this, and frankly, Oliver was too.

"What's your name kid?"

"Oliver North."

"Well North, you don't get a much better education than learnin' to live out in the Wastes."

"Is that so?" Gary turned to Jenny and tapped on the menu, pointing at a brahmin steak and a nuka cola. "What's your story Jericho?"

"I'm just a washed up ol' raider, I did what raider's do." Jenny placed Oliver's food in front of him and he started eating.

"You ever think of gettin' back out there?"

Jericho laughed and shook his head. "Nah, too much rapin, killin, and stealin."

"I know, sounds fun right?" Jericho turned from his food and looked to Oliver.

"What's someone like you doin' here?"

"Just escape Vault 101 with my brother. Ya know, we could use someone of your skills with us." Oliver took a chug of his Nuka Cola. "You wanna join us?"

Jericho appeared to be deep in thought. This kid reminded himself of… well how he was when he was younger. Something about him rekindled a wanting of the Wastes. "Ya know kid, I'll tell you what. Judging from that blood on you, you know how to handle yourself. I'll join ya, but you gotta get me 1000 caps… for supplies and shit."

Oliver nearly spit out his food. He just got here and he was expected to get 1000 caps? Christ almighty. Then he had an idea. "Tell you what Jericho… I'll give you half that and you could make do. We'll find our own riches out there. You won't need anything else. We'll fly by the hair on our asses, living as we go. We'll find double what you want in no time."

Jericho looked at Oliver and bobbed his head up and down, tossing the idea around. Finally "I'll think about it kid." As far as Oliver was concerned that was a yes. The two ate the rest of their meals in silence, and then Gary arrived. Once the brothers discussed what had happened up to that point, they paid for their meals and left.

"I wanna get back out there." Oliver said. Gary was surprised; it looked like Oliver had enough adventure for one day.

"You really wanna go to that grocery store?"

"It ain't far, and besides, the sun is still in the sky. We'll get back by nightfall." Gary though that this seemed dangerous, after all, who knows what the hell went on at night. He looked up, the sky was red, but their visibility was still good.

"Fine, let's hurry up and get outta here."

"Thatta boy." Oliver put his hand on his brother's shoulder. The two walked out the gates of Megaton and headed towards their next destination...

* * *

><p><strong>I apologize if the points of view got confusing. It kind of went from different times back and forth. If something confused you leave a comment or something.<strong>

**I would like to think of this as a buildup chapter for the things to come.**

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I'll update as soon as as can.  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3: Having a Super Duper Time

**Chapter 3: Having a Super Duper Time**

* * *

><p><em>A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.<em>

* * *

><p>"So please explain it to me again, this woman wants us to raid a store out in the middle of nowhere, contract radiation poisoning, and go through a fricken' <em>minefield<em>! Are you sure she's not taking some chems?" Oliver asked his brother as the two crossed the Capital Wasteland.

Gary shrugged. "Yea I don't know man; this one appeared to be the safest."

"I swear to God, I've nearly been killed enough on my first day, the last thing I wanna see if a bunch of crazies running around the Super-Duper Mart. And who the hell names a grocery store a 'Super Duper Mart'?"

"Settle down, this was your decision. And will you clean yourself up, you look like a walking corpse!"

"Oh that reminds me, have you met the ghoul yet?" Oliver asked his brother. Gary only looked at his brother, what was he talking about? The two stopped near a large puddle, the sun reflected off the pool of water. "You know zombies from those Pre-War flicks we used to watch? Well it's basically a walking corpse, a zombie. We'll head out to the bar after this and you could meet him." Oliver bent down to cup the water with his hands.

"Whoa! Hold up!" Gary grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him back. "That stuff is irradiated!"

"A little radiation never killed anyone. Besides, it's not like I'm drinkin' the stuff, it's just a quick wash." Gary held up his hands to his brother's response, he let him do what he wanted. Oliver started throwing water on his face and clothes. The blood from the raider's quickly washed off, except from his jumpsuit.

"Ya know we should really get you new armor." Gary pointed out, specifically to the hole that was in Oliver's armor from getting shot. Oliver waved him off and stood up, saying he would in due time. The brothers continued walking; they saw a long building in the distance.

Oliver stopped walking. "You hear that?" Gary stopped as well and cocked his head, he didn't hear anything. "I swear I heard something."

"I think you're jus…" A dog pounced on top of Gary, who yelped due to surprise. Gary placed his arm out in front of him. The dog locked its jaws onto his arm, attempting to get to his face. Not even thinking, Gary removed his combat knife from his hip and dug it into the dog's skull. He saw the dog's life drain out of its eyes as its grip loosened on Gary's arm. Gary removed his knife, a trail of blood followed. He rolled the dog off of him and turned to his brother.

Oliver was preoccupied at the moment. He just hit a dog over the head with his baton, a sickening crack followed as the dog's skull shattered. He turned around and delivered a punting kick to another dog's stomach. Gary was impressed, the canine got some distance. He took out his pistol and fired a single shot, putting the dog out of its misery. Gary blew the smoke from the gun and placed it back in its holster.

"I had it covered." Oliver said. Gary laughed.

"Yea I know, your suit tells the story." Down the length of Oliver's left arm, his suit was completely torn open.

"Ok ok I'll invest in some new armor." Oliver said. He watched his brother kneel down beside one of the dead dogs.

"Feral… attacking on sight. Hairless due to radiation. So much for man's best friend eh?" Gary stood back up. "I wonder how many _nice_ dogs there are in the Wastes."

"Who needs a dog when you have me?" Oliver joked. Gary simply ignored the comment; the brothers continued walking to their destination. They reached the back of the building which they assumed was the Super Duper Mart. They turned right and walked along a chain link fence that was surprisingly still intact, save for a gaping hole or two.

The shouts of several males got the North brothers' attention. They equipped their pistols and walked further to investigate. One man was being attacked by three raiders. The singled out man was equipped with a sword and had on leather armor. There was a cut across his face, blood seeped over his eyes. The raiders simply laughed as they kicked a dead body (they assumed it was the man's companion) and taunted the man in leather armor.

A raider jumped towards the man hacking at him with a knife; the man jumped backwards and swiped out with his sword. The raider cried out in pain as his arm was severed from his body, holding his stump of an arm. Another raider took this opportunity and cracked the man over the head with a baseball hat. The man dropped to the ground and the group of raider proceeded to beat the man to a bloody pulp.

Gary stared at the group with wide eyes, horror struck. This was the Capital Wasteland? This was a Godless land, no doubt about it. He didn't realize that he started firing his gun at the group of raiders. One quickly dropped to the ground before Oliver joined in. The two brothers made quick work of the raiders; they littered the parking lot in front of the Super Duper Mart.

The two went around the fence and walked towards the dead bodies. Gary saw the raider with the one arm trying to crawl away. 'Sick bastards.' Gary thought to himself. Oliver walked over to the crawling raider and delivered a boot to his stomach. The man was now on his back, coughing up blood. Oliver brought down his heel on the raider's skull, which quickly caved in. Oliver's boot was covered in blood and pink brain matter. Gary would normally say something but he felt no sympathy for these people.

Oliver walked to the corpse of the man in leather armor. He bent down and started un-strapping the armor one by one. "What are you doing?" Gary asked.

"I need new armor." Oliver said, emotionless. Gary stood watch as Oliver took off his jumpsuit and put on the new leather armor. There were no holes in the armor thankfully; the pants and abdomen were in great condition. Oliver removed the man's sword and placed it on his hip. He gave his brother a nod and the two cautiously opened the front doors to the Super Duper Mart.

The only light inside the store was natural lighting that seeped through the ceiling. Neither of the brothers could tell what lay ahead in the distance. They crept forward, pistols drawn. Now further in the Super Duper Mart, the brothers could see rows and rows of empty shelves. Some were over turned and others had boards that formed bridges high above the ground.

"Raider. Get down." Oliver shot through his teeth. Gary rolled behind a cashier's counter and Oliver laid on the ground, intent on keeping this raider in his sights. The raider exited a room from their left, carrying a switchblade. It was a woman, just as dirty as every other raider that they have seen.

Oliver wrapped his hand around his baton, and waited for the woman to get closer. Just as she was about to unknowingly step on Oliver, he jumped up and hit her over the head with his police baton. She crumpled to the ground without a single noise. Oliver took her knife and slit her throat, a painless death that these raiders didn't deserve.

"Pssst." Gary got his brother's attention. "More raiders up on the shelves, lets move." He jabbed a finger at the right of where they entered, a new room out of sight of the raiders. The North brothers, still crouched to hide, walked over to a counter that hide another room. The hopped over the counter, they could relax for now.

"Food!" Gary said excitedly, that was quick. There was a fridge and some assorted food on shelves in the smaller room. Gary walked over and started throwing the food into a large sack that Moira had given him.

Oliver was preoccupied with more important things however. There was what appeared to be some kind of weird looking pistol on a counter with some energy cells. His Pipboy identified the weapon as a laser pistol, if he had it in him to squeal he would. There were enough energy cells to hold off him for a while.

Gary tapped Oliver on the shoulder. "New weapon?"

"Yea, and don't even think about taking it." He noticed the sack on Gary's back that was now bulging. "We got the food we came for? Let's bail."

"No quite yet there brochacho. Moira also asked for medicine, we could still check around. You'll also be able to try out your new gun." He saw his brother put on a devilish smile.

"Ok let's do this." The two exited the room by hopping over the counter once again. The brothers walked past some overturned shelves and used them for cover. As the neared closer to the edge of the shelves, Gary peered around the corner. A single raider was walking around with a pistol drawn, not doing anything in particular.

Gary held up one finger. "See anymore then that?" Oliver questioned. Gary shook his head.

"Nah, but there could definitely be more."

"In which case I say we take that chance." Oliver stood up and immediately drew his new laser pistol. Before Gary could protest, Oliver pulled the trigger three times. Red laser beams shot towards the unsuspecting raider. Two of the beams made contact with their chest and the other hit their head, severing it from the neck. The head turned to ashes as the body dropped to the ground.

Oliver threw up his hand in the air. "Don't even think about complaining about that! That was bad ass man!" Gary didn't know how to react, that was pretty awesome.

Then they started getting shot at, which was not awesome. "Jesus Christ why the hell did you have to do that!" Gary drew his pistol and started firing at the direction of the where he believed the raiders were.

"It was a good idea at the time!" Oliver shouted back. The brothers stayed behind the cover of the store shelves. The raiders on the other hand, were not that smart. They jumped out in the open and wished to carry out the offensive. One had a shotgun and the other a knife, neither ideal long range weapons. Oliver motioned to Gary and the brothers both stood up, shooting at the two raiders. The dropped quickly to the ground as the bullets and lasers made contact with their bodies.

Gary crept forward cautiously. He examined the two raiders, they were dead alright. He picked up the shotgun and looked at it. There was a strap on the gun, so he threw it on his back. He looted the raiders' corpses and walked over to his brother, who was swearing at a computer.

"Damn technology, the door won't open and this computer ain't helpin' either!" Oliver shouted. He hit the computer with his hand. Gary inspected the computer and the door. Apparently the door had a lock triggered by the computer and it appeared that the medicine they were looking for was behind the door.

"Hold your horses there and gimme a second will ya?" Gary sat down at the chair in front of the computer and starting typing away. The computer had fairly simple software, so hacking it was simple. "And voila!" The door opened as Gary hit the corresponding key on the keyboard.

"Nice." Oliver entered the room first. He started flipping over crates, looking for anything interesting. Gary found a medical box and starting emptying its contents in his bag. In the corner was another computer and…

"What the hell is a robot doin' here?" Oliver asked. He walked up to the station that the robot was in an flicked the glass.

"Probably a maintenance droid, or security, either or."

"Could you turn it on?"

"What would possess me to turn it on?" Gary knew that his brother hated technology for the most part; he didn't understand why he wanted to see a random robot.

"Just for the hell of it." Gary threw up his hand and walked over to the terminal near the robot. After inputting a few commands, the door to the robot's chamber opened. The robot waddled out and passed the brothers, completely ignoring them. "Well that was stupid." Oliver said.

"What did you expect?" Gary questioned. The two walked out of the storage room and back into the main room. The robot was nowhere to be seen. "Well we have what we came for an a bit more. Shall we?" Gary asked, pointing to towards the exit in the distance.

"Let's." The two brothers started walking to the exit of the Super-Duper Mart. The doors suddenly opened and the North brothers dove behind shelves.

"What the fuck is goin' on in here?" A male voice. Oliver peered around the corner of his overturned shelf. It was a male raider walking ahead of a group of three other raiders. The leader walked towards the corpse of the raider the brothers had killed when they first entered the Super-Duper Mart. "Spread out, the fucker who did this is probably still here!" Shouted the leader. His men nodded and walked their separate ways.

"We gotta get outta here." Gary hissed.

"You think I don't know that?" Oliver shot back. He peered around the corner once again, two raiders were making their way right towards them. No way to take them both out silently. Oliver turned back to his brother. "Run and gun?"

Gary let out a deep breath. It probably was their best chance. He removed his shotgun from his shoulder and readied it. He nodded to his brother. They both stood up at once and charged out from their shelves.

The raiders didn't have the opportunity to react. Gary and Oliver fired simultaneously, instantly killing the raiders in a gory explosion. "Go! Go! Go!" Gary shouted. The brothers jumped over the corpses of the raiders and ran towards the exit of the store.

"There they are! I see 'em!" Came a shout from behind. Without looking, Oliver fired several shots from his pistol in the general direction of the noise. The brothers ran out the set of double doors. The sun was almost fully set.

"We gotta get back now!" Gary shouted. He put his shotgun over his back and picked up the pace to a full sprint.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Oliver retorted. He ejected the clip from his laser pistol and placed in a new one. He put the gun on his belt and ran alongside his brother. The two ran west towards Megaton, not looking back for one second. Shouts continued to follow them, but gradually faded.

"Wait, wait I gotta… catch my breath," Oliver stopped his brother. He hunched over and breathed heavily, his chest heaving in and out. He leaned up against a burned out building. Gary wasn't about to argue, he put his hands on his head and looked to the sky, placing his back to the wasteland.

"And don't even say I told you so." Oliver quickly said. "'Cuz I just know you are thinking it."

"It's not like this was going to be a surprise!" Gary exclaimed. "You experienced these crazies first hand before I did! You should'a known they would try and kill us!"

"Settle down, it's survival of the fittest, it happens. You know we have to kill a few eggs to make an omelet." Oliver said in between heavy breathes.

"That's not how the saying goes."

"I know that's not how the damned saying goes! What do you want a sign to tell you about the wasteland? It could read 'Ahh the Capital Wasteland, explore its many wonders! Meet new exciting people, then slaughter them with no remorse!' I personally like the sound of it." Gary simply waved his brother off, he was tired, wanted to get back to safety, and he certainly didn't want to hear his brother yammer on and on.

Gary's ears perked up. He though he heard something so he raised his hand up to silence his brother. Oliver looked at him questioningly, mouthing 'what?' "I thought I heard…" Pain shot up Gary's back as a gun rang, breaking the silence of the night. Gary grabbed his upper leg and shouted. "Sonova bitch!" The pain in his leg became unbearable as his body gave out and he dropped to the ground.

"We got 'em now boys!" The raiders were back. Gary was careless; he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Oliver was taken by surprise but he didn't let that stop him from taking out his laser pistol and 10mm. As if he was some Pre-War action hero, he duel wielded the guns and opened fire. The raiders who weren't smart enough to take cover were quickly mowed down by the hail of fire.

Gary took this opportunity to crawl into the burned out building his brother had been leaning on. He knew they were close to Megaton, but they still had raiders to deal with. Sitting on the ground, he bent around the doorway of the building and started shooting out. Oliver dove into the building as the raider's gathered their bearings and returned fire.

"Keep 'em busy!" Oliver shouted, he then ran off further into the building.

"What the hell are you doing!" Seriously, what the hell? Gary couldn't really move so he just returned fire with his 10mm. One raider jumped up to fire back, but Gary was the quicker of the two. The bullet entered the man's eye and burst out the back like a bloody water balloon bursting.

Gary was getting a hang of this killing-to-survive-thing, but then… click. "Shit," Gary mumbled. He quickly ejected the clip and fumbled around for another magazine on his belt. Before being able to slam the magazine in, a raider ran through the doorway. Gary removed his knife from his belt and stabbed it deep into the raider's thigh. The woman shrieked in pain and bent over to grab the new wound as blood poured down her leg. Gary pulled out the knife and dug it into the woman's right temple.

Blood poured onto Gary's hand from the open wound. He placed his free hand on the woman's head and applied force to pull the knife free. The woman's body hit the ground, blooded seeped onto the floor. Gary maneuvered it slightly to be directly in the doorway.

"Yo!" Oliver was back.

"What the hell man! Where did you go?" Gary shouted as he took out his pistol again and put a new magazine in his pistol.

"I found a way out. You okay to walk?" Gary tried to move, but winced as pain shot up his body once again. "Use a stimpack, I'll distract them." Oliver started shooting at the raiders outside; there was a cry of pain.

Gary took a stimpack from the sack he had on his back. He rolled onto his side and stuck the stimpack next to the wound. He removed it and quickly threw it to the ground. Gary used the wall to help himself get up. "Let's go, but what's stopping them from following us?"

Oliver developed a devilish smile. He withdrew a single grenade from his pocket. Gary's eyes widened, "Where did you get that?"

"I found it, and I have it, does it matter where I got it?"

"I guess not, let's go." Gary said. Oliver pulled the pin to the grenade and quickly chucked it out the doorway.

"GO! GO! GO!" Oliver waved his brother to follow him as the two started to run for the exit. There was almost no light inside the house, the walls were peeling and appeared to be weak. There was a small hole that would barely be able to fit a small child. Then an explosion went off outside. The whole house seemed to shake as the grenade exploded.

"This is our exit?" Gary asked. "There's no way we could…"

"Oh shut up and watch." Oliver took a running start at the wall, it quickly gave way and he was now outside. The younger North brother dusted himself off as the older walked through the makeshift doorway. Oliver gave an 'I told ya so' look to which Gary just shook his head.

The two continued running, they hit Megaton with no further interruptions. They waved up to the man watching the wastes; he looked at them, and then seemed to recognize the two. The gates to the city slowly creaked open. The two slid inside and caught their breath.

"Quite the adventure, eh?" Oliver quipped first.

"I've had enough for the day thank you very much."

"I'ma head to the bar, I have some business to take care of. You could meet me there if ya want." Oliver said; he walked off before his brother could respond. Gary simply sighed, quite a hell of a day. He saw Lucas Simms leaning up against a house that Gary presumed to be his.

"Hey there sheriff." Simms looked at Gary as he approached him and smiled.

"Looks like you experienced the wastes, how was it?"

"Interesting to say the least. Hey I have a question about the bomb." Gary said, pointing in the direction of the nuclear warhead that the town was centered around. "What possessed a person to build a town around a deactivated nuke?" Lucas Simms simply looked at Gary.

"If you want a history lesson, I suggest you'd talk to Manya. And the bomb isn't deactivated." If Gary was drinking something he would have spit it out.

"What do you mean it's not deactivated? You people are in danger! You could all be killed!

"We have no reason to disarm it. It hasn't given us any reason to worry and I don't trust anyone around here enough to do it." Gary pondered what Simms said.

"You know, I could probably disarm that for you in exchange for a couple hundred caps."

"Hmm well I've heard only good things about you. I tell you what, if don't blow us up I'll give you 200 caps and a surprise worth your while." Lucas Simms extended his hand. Gary met it with his own hand and they shook on it.

"Is Moira's shop still open?" Gary questioned, it was completely dark outside so he had no idea how late places were open till.

"She'll be closing up for the night in a few; you may be able to catch her if you hurry."

"Ok thanks, sheriff!" Gary started walking away; he wanted his payment for tonight. He jogged towards Crater-side supply to talk to Moira.

* * *

><p>Oliver opened the door to Moriarty's bar and slammed it behind him. "Where's Moriarty?" he asked the ghoul bartender.<p>

"Ah there he is, the man I've been waiting for." Oliver looked up; Moriarty was walking down the stairs from the second floor. "You have me money?"

"Depends, you gonna tell me where my dad is?"

"Gimme the money and I'll tell you." Oliver sighed; there was no arguing with this scum bag. He reluctantly handed over the caps.

"This is all she had." which was a lie. Oliver kept most of the money for himself. Moriarty took the caps and laughed to himself.

"Well you sure to deliver, kid. Tell you what; you wanna know where your dad is? You're going to have to work for it. It's hard to find people who could get work done so I need to hang onto you."

Oliver was outraged. "What the fuck that wasn't the deal! You bastard, I did what you asked, just tell me what I wanna know!" he grabbed Moriarty by the collar and pulled him closer to his face.

"Oh settle down, laddy, it's simply business."

"Business my ass!" Oliver threw Moriarty to the wall and spit in front of him. He grabbed three beers off the counter and walked outside before anyone could protest.

Now outside, the cool night air hit Oliver in the face, it was refreshing. He slid down the wall of the bar and opened up the beer with his hands. He inspected the brown bottle before drinking from it. He had drunk before, when inside the Vault. He wondered how much different it tasted out here.

He tipped his head back as the liquor went down his throat; this crap was watered down, no doubt about it. Oliver simply sat there drinking, admiring the moon and the stars. Once he had finished his first bottle, Gary made an appearance.

"Gotta gift for ya Johnny." he said, holding up two backpacks. He tossed one onto Oliver's lap and sat down next to him. "Moira gave them to me for our work at the Super-duper mart. Oh and I got to keep the food and medicine." Oliver didn't react, he simply opened up his second beer and took a swig.

"Everything alright, brother?" Gary inquired.

Oliver put his beer on the ground and turned to his brother. "No everything is not alright, I just got fuckin cheated out of info on dad by that cock sucker Moriarty."

"And what are we going to do about it?" Gary asked, appealing to his brother's hotheaded nature.

Oliver threw his beer to the ground; it smashed on contact with the ground. "We're gonna get that info with or without him." he stood up and walked to the door of the bar. "I'm going to get some info, I'll be back."

Gary watched as his brother walked into the bar. He stayed on the ground waiting. After several minutes, Oliver came back out. Gary stood up, "Well what did you learn?"

"The whore, Nova, said he had a terminal with all his info in a back room. The bartender, Gob, confirmed the info. Here is the password." Oliver handed his brother a piece of paper. Gary took it and placed it the pocket of his armored jumpsuit.

"Ok, do you know where Moriarty is?"

Oliver crossed his arms, "In the back room with the terminal." Gary sighed, nothing was ever easy.

"Alright then we need a distraction, you willing to screw around a bit?" Oliver simply smiled...

* * *

><p>"Where's… where's Moriarty!" Oliver shouted as he stumbled into the bar. He held up a beer bottle as he talked. "I gotta… gotta talk to him."<p>

"What the fuck do you want, kid? I already told you, I'm not handin' out the info on your dad." Moriarty walked out from his backroom. Oliver stumbled over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Ya know… I was overreacting…"

Meanwhile, while his brother was acting drunk, Gary was sneaking around the bar to the back door. He withdrew a bobby pin and screwdriver and started to apply pressure to the lock. Within a matter of seconds the door swung open and Gary entered. There was a fair amount of commotion coming from the bar.

Staying crouched, Gary walked over to a computer terminal. The room was lit up from the computer, giving Gary a green, ghost-like glow. He took the paper from his pocket and typed in the word on the computer. The terminal gave a slight hum as it accepted the password.

Gary looked through the contents list on the computer: tabs, people...

"If dad is going to be anywhere in here it would be under people..." Gary mumbled to himself. He pressed the enter key and a list of names replaced the table of contents. Gary scrolled until he came to the name of "James". Gary felt his heart beat rapidly as his hand hovered over the enter key... He was so close to finding where dad was.

Not wanting to waste anytime, Gary quickly hit the button and scanned the contents of the file. It mentioned that this wasn't the first time that his dad met Moriarty, and that he went somewhere called 'Galaxy News Radio'. Gary pondered why dad would go to a radio station, but he just shook off his thoughts. He exited the the back room and went back outside. He walked to the front of the bar and took a deep breath before turning the handle and entering the bar.

"Hey there... He is!" that was Oliver's voice, no doubt about it. He was still pretending to be a stumbling drunkard, and he was doing a pretty nice job. Moriarty turned to face the new brother.

"What the hell? So there are two of you! Get your brother outta here before I throw him out."

"You could knock off the act, it's alright bro." Gary told Oliver. Oliver stood up straight and stretched.

"Good, I was running out of drunken things to say." Moriarty and the whole bar looked confused.

"I allowed him to yank your chain seein as you're an asshole," Gary stated, an obvious lie but no one was the wiser. Well at least he was telling the truth about Moriarty.

"Who the fuck do you two think you are? You think you're better then I am cuz you came out of some damned vault?" Moriarty was now red in the face. Oliver and Gary walked up to the bar.

"Oh settle down Moriarty, I'm going to buy your piss poor beer, will that make ya feel better?" Oliver asked. He sat down on a stool and motioned to Gob for a drink while Moriarty stormed off to his back room. Gary was about to sit down next to his brother, but stopped when he saw a hand waving to him.

"Hey there you are! Come on over!" it was Billy Creel from earlier today. Gary sat down on the stool next to the one eyed man shook his hand.

"One day out in the wastes and you already pissed off Moriarty? Not the best start but I'd say you'll make a name for yourself." Billy said with a half grin. "Come on, how about I buy you a drink?"

Gary scratched his head and laughed a bit, "Truth be told man, I've never drank before."

"Well there's a first time for everythin right? Gob!" The ghoul bartender walked over to where the two men sat.

"What'll have smooth-skin?" Gary had to avert his eyes quickly; he didn't want to stare at Gob for too long.

"Um gimme a second to think..." Gary saw the ghoul take a step back.

"Thats it? You're not gonna hit me?" Gary looked at Gob strangely and shook his head. "Wow, both you smooth-skins... I like you and your brother. Listen between you and me... I could give you a discount on this crap."

Gary smiled at this, "Why thank you, I'm Gary," he extended his hand to the ghoul. Once again Gob looked taken aback, people never wanted to touch him. Gob slowly shook back.

"Get this guy a whiskey alright?" Billy broke in, realizing the Gary would never make a decision. Gob nodded and placed a clear bottle with a brown/orange looking liquid in it in front of Gary.

"To the wastes," Billy said as he held up his own whiskey bottle.

"To the wastes," Gary replied, as he took a swig from the bottle, his throat burned. He shook his head vigorously and placed the bottle back down.

The two men talked for a while, the sound of their voices were simply added noise to the static of the radio and chatter of other attendees. After a moment of silence, Gary spoke up, "Who is that chick in the corner?" He motioned to the blond woman sitting on a chair in the corner. If he remembered correctly it was the woman he ran into earlier.

"Lucy West, she is fairly new here, you interested in her?" Billy said with a grin.

"Well I'd be lying if I said she wasn't attractive."

"Go bring her a drink, strike up a conversation." Gary stood up and ordered two beers. With alcohol in hand, he walked over to Lucy. As he approached her she smiled.

"This seat taken?"

* * *

><p>While his brother was with Billy, Oliver was sitting at the bar alone. He quickly drained two beers with ease; it felt good as the liquid ran through his system.<p>

Oliver saw movement from the corner of his eye. He turned on his stool to face the direction of the movement. A man in a suit was waving his hand, trying to get his attention.

Oliver stood up and grabbed another beer before walking to the mysterious man. "My, my. Just when I had all but given up hope." mans voice was smooth, yet emotionless. His face was covered by sunglasses and some kind of pre-war hat. "My dear boy, I am very happy to make your acquaintance."

"Could I help you?" Oliver asked as he sat next to the man. "Mr...?"

"You may refer to me as Mr. Burke. And you, you are Oliver North. You are not a resident of this putrescent cesspool. That makes you a rather valuable individual."

Oliver took a swig of his beer and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Mr. Burke was it? Carry on, I'm _enthralled_."

"I am looking to employ a talented individual with no ties to Megaton. This person must also have no interest in its future, or lack of one." Oliver leaned on the table and stared intensely at Burke, he was interested. "Megaton is obsolete. The last vestige of a cobbled, desperate past. It needs to… be wiped off the map. And you are going to see that it does."

Burke took a slight pause, waiting for a response. "Go on, I'm listening." Burke grinned, knowing this may the person to complete his task.

"The undetonated atomic bomb for which this town is named is still very much alive. All it needs is a little motivation. I have in my possession a Fusion Pulse Charge constructed for a singular purpose—the detonation of that bomb. You'll rig it to the bomb, then you'll be paid. Handsomely might I add. What do you say?"

Oliver pondered the offer for a second. "You throw in an extra 500 caps, and you've go yourself a deal. And I want to be paid a small portion up front, so I know I don't get fucked over when I go to blow up this town."

Burke smirked, "You truly are the smartest person in this Neanderthal town, alright, and here is a small deposit for the job. Take this, and meet me at Tenpenny Tower south of here, well out of harm's way. It is impossible to miss it. I'll be here in case you have anymore questions."

Oliver finished his beer and placed it on table. "Alright Mr. Burke, consider it done."


	4. Brotherly Love

**Chapter 4: Brotherly Love**

* * *

><p><em>Adversity introduces a man to himself<em>

* * *

><p>Gary's eyes flickered as he tried to get up. The light blinded him as it poured into his vision. He couldn't really see, everything was blurry to him. All he could do was wince as he tried to sit up, but his whole body ached.<p>

"Ah crap..." He laid his head back down; he was on a bed, but where? Gary rubbed his eyes viciously, desperately trying to get his vision back. Everything was still fairly blurry, but now he saw a figure approach him in the darkened room he was in.

"Stop what you're doing there, it'll only make it worse." The voice was familiar... The doctor he met before.

"I know, I know, but what the hell is going on?" Gary demanded.

"You really don't remember anything?" A new voice, Lucas Simms. Gary put his hand to his head, trying to concentrate. His head swam; nothing seemed to flow properly together.

"I... I really have no idea." His vision finally started to come though, he was in the clinic in Megaton, he knew that much. "And how long have I been out?"

"As expected, seeing as what happened to you. And you have been asleep for around a day, it around eleven in the morning." The doctor said. Gary was taken aback, a whole day? Slowly, Gary slid up on the bed, sitting up with his back propped against the pillow.

"What happened to me?" Gary started raising his voice. He looked around, his eyes widened. "Wait where is my brother?"

Lucas Simms sighed and sat next to Gary on the bed. Gary got a good look at the man; he had a black eye and bandages on his body, what the hell happened? "Here, let me tell you what happened. Yesterday morning you and your brother left Megaton for Springvale elementary school. You two said you were going to clear out the raiders that were located there." As Simms was talking, Gary assumed the worst for his brother. Why the hell would they do that?

"At around noon," Lucas carried on," The two of you showed up again. You had a wild look in your eye, and your brother ran off somewhere. You gave me this device," Lucas withdrew a metallic object. It was a fusion pulse charge for…

"Oh Christ. Please God no." Gary said, he remembered what happened. He remembered it all...

* * *

><p>"Slow down, son. Just take a deep breath and calm down."<p>

"Just listen to me!" Gary threw up his hands in the air. "That device! The one I just handed to you? It's made to rig the nuke. It is a pre-war design made for a nuclear warhead if it doesn't go off. All you have to do is place it on the bomb and press a button! Then kaboom! You're dead!"

Lucas Simms understood the gravity of the situation. "Now tell me again, where did you get this?"

"I took it from my brother when he wasn't looking. He said he got it from a Mr. Burke, who promised him cash if he took Megaton off the map."

Lucas Simms withdrew the assault rifle that he had on his back. "I never liked the looks of him. It appears that we're going to have a chat with Mr. Burke. Come with me, I'm going to show you some Wasteland justice."

Gary ran along Lucas Simms as they made their way towards Moriarty's Saloon. Gary didn't know what to expect. What the hell was going on with Oliver? What made him think that money justified the death of so many innocents? Gary just hoped that he didn't show up when they confronted Burke, and if he did... Well he just hoped his brother wouldn't do anything irrational.

The two men were outside the bar, Simms turned to the eldest North brother. "Have that shotgun of yours in hand, I hope it won't come to that, but it is better to be safe then sorry. We have no idea what he will do."

Gary nodded his head and withdrew his shotgun, "You got it." As the two entered the bar, the atmosphere immediately changed. The air was now thick, and there was an eerie silence. Lucas took the lead and walked to Burke in the corner of the saloon.

"Burke," Simms barked. Mr. Burke lifted his head and placed down his glass of wine. "What is your business here in Megaton?"

"Surely if it is my business, it doesn't concern you, sheriff. Besides, I am just a simple business man."

"Well then what the hell does this mean to you?" Lucas Simms took out the piece of hardware for the bomb. Burke made no indication that his plan had failed, he remained completely calm.

"It appears you have found some pre-war technology there, sheriff."

"Don't play dumb with me, Burke. You intended to blow up Megaton! Are you out of you God-dammed mind?"

"Ah sheriff, it appears there been a bit of a," Burke glared at Gary," miscommunication."

At that moment, the door to the bar opened. "What the hell is going on here?" Cold sweat started forming on the back of Gary's neck, Oliver was here.

"Oh crap." Gary muttered.

"Gary, what the fuck are you doing?" Oliver walked up to his brother.

"Oliver, what you wanted to do is wrong, I'm not willing to blow up a city for a couple hundred Godforsaken caps."

"No, this is wrong, this is stupid!" Oliver shouted. In the corner of the room, Burke snickered.

"Perhaps something can be worked out?" Burke stated calmly. The way he worded this was more of a command more so then a question.

"No way," Lucas Simms spoke up. "You're coming with me, that's that. Now get up."

Burke's entire demeanor changed quickly. "Why must you knuckle draggers always insist on doing things the hard way?" he looked at Oliver. "Fine sheriff, I will humor you." Burke stood up, Lucas waved him on as he proceeded to walk out the door first.

Then Burke withdrew a pistol from his suit coat.

"No!" Gary prepared his shotgun, and aimed at Burke's head. A burst of pain erupted in his left arm, causing him to lose aim of Burke's head and instead aim towards his hands. Gary pulled the trigger; blood seeped onto the floor as Burke shouted in agony as his left hand was literally blown off his arm. He grabbed his stump of an arm and held it close to him.

Gary faced the direction of the pain in his left arm. His eyes widened as he saw that Oliver, his brother, had stabbed him in the arm with a switchblade.

"What the fuck!" Gary shouted. He swung his shotgun around and delivered the butt of the gun straight to his brother's face. A sickening crack was heard, blood poured from Oliver's now broken nose.

He stumbled into Lucas Simms, who turned around just as the shotgun blast had gone off. Simms went to grab Oliver with his free hand, but Oliver stabbed Simms' hand with his knife. Simms quickly reeled back his hand, but Oliver didn't let up, he delivered a kick to Lucas' stomach and an elbow to his face, which sent the sheriff over the bar counter.

Gary saw Burke make a run for the door, just as Gary was about to follow him, Oliver tackled him to the ground.

"Get the fuck off me!" Gary shouted. Despite the fact that Oliver had the advantage of being on top, Gary still was able to deliver a strong right hook the connected with Oliver's jaw. Gary got his leg free and kicked his brother off of him.

Oliver rubbed his jaw and stood up. "You couldn't just go with the God-damned plan could you? Let your morals get in the way yet again."

"You're psychotic, you know that?" This time, Gary charged at his brother. Oliver was ready; he lashed out at Gary, who ran right into the attack.

Gary moved back and placed his hand on the bar to recover. Oliver didn't let up though; he pulled his brother towards him and delivered an elbow to the side of his face. Gary ran his back straight into the bar; he pulled himself up and kicked out, making contact with Oliver's chest.

Now on the offensive, Gary tackled his brother once again just as Oliver spit up a combination of saliva and blood. Gary kept driving forward; Oliver planted his feet down but couldn't stop his older brother from pushing. They were out of the bar, and they quickly fell as the two broke through the barricade on the walkway. Oliver grunted as his back slammed into the roof of the building under them. The shanty roof quickly gave way due to the combined weight of the brothers, causing them to fall into the building below.

As the two landed, Gary, still on top, proceeded to pound his brother's face repeatedly. His fists started to ache as he continually battered Oliver. Blood poured from Oliver's mouth and nose, getting caked in the hair of his goatee.

Gary gradually stopped. Looking at the person he once called brother, he realized he couldn't kill him, he had done enough. Gary stood up and walked away from the unconscious form of his twin.

He didn't know where they were exactly; it appeared to be some place of worship though. Gary leaned up against a railing that overlooked rows upon rows of benches facing a podium. He soon realized he was bleeding; he spit out the blood onto the floor and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"We weren't finished." Gary's eyes widened as his brother's voice came from behind him. He didn't have the opportunity to turn around as he was thrown from the ledge by his brother. His side made direct contact with a bench as he landed on the ground floor. In pain, Gary rolled on the ground gripping his side. He believed he may have shattered a rib on the way down.

"Look out below," Oliver shouted. He jumped off the second floor to the first and landed right on Gary's stomach. Gary spit up blood and shouted in agony as his brother once again stomped his stomach.

"Too bad you're not gonna see dad," Oliver said. He kicked Gary in the head. Gary's vision swam; he was on the verge of blacking out.

"I guess I'll have to make up some kind of explanation." Oliver grabbed his brother by the collar of his jumpsuit and pulled him close to his face.

"Explain this to him." Gary muttered. The eldest North brother spit in his brother's eye and withdrew his combat knife. With his free hand, he grabbed Oliver by the neck. Gary dragged the blade down his brother's face from his left temple, down his nose, and stopping after cutting his lip.

Oliver fell over howling, he rolled on the ground holding his face as blood poured on his hands. Gary propped himself on his elbow, his vision was still blurry. Using the help of a bench, he started getting up.

"You brought this upon yourself, you know that right?" Gary said over the shrieks of his brother. Now standing, he limped over to his brother and withdrew his pistol.

"I'm so sorry, brother. I'm sorry." Then came noise and pain. The doors to the church busted open. A single figure stood in the doorway. A series of shots rang out, catching Gary twice in the right shoulder. He dropped his pistol and fell to the ground. The figure, a male, came up to Gary and smashed the assault rifle butt into Gary's forehead, knocking him unconscious.

"I would have been dead if it wasn't for you, Gary, and I thank you for that." Lucas Simms said. Gary wasn't paying attention though; his mind was still racing with thoughts of Oliver and the fight.

"Do you know who it was that shot me?" Gary asked.

"That was Jericho, an ex raider."

"Ah, I had the pleasure of meeting him before." Gary rubbed his shoulder where he was shot. "Why didn't he kill me?"

Simms actually seemed proud for a moment, "The people of Megaton raised arms against the two of them, and they didn't have the opportunity to kill you."

"Did Burke get away?"

"He ran off with your brother and Jericho to God only knows where. Luckily for us, with that wound you inflicted on him he won't survive for very long."

"Yea... Lucky for us..." Gary said emotionless. He still couldn't believe what had happened. His brother had turned on him; they had nearly killed each other. Lucas Simms placed his hand on Gary's shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry son, you did good, really good. Your brother made his choice and you made yours, and now you are always welcome here."

"Thanks, sheriff, it means a lot." Gary placed his hand on Lucas' shoulder and used him to support himself as he stood. The doctor nearly tackled Gary to force him back down, but Gary waved him off. He stood up and stretched. "I can't stay in this bed, I have things to take care of, and I still need to find my dad." Gary turned to Simms. "Do you know where Galaxy News Radio is?"

"Gary, that's in the middle of the DC ruins, which is not a place you want to go. In your condition you would be torn to shreds."

"Give me some credit will ya, sheriff? I could handle myself against a few raiders."

"That's the thing, there aren't raiders, there are super-mutants." Gary couldn't help but smile and raise an eyebrow, super mutants? Sounded like some kind of cheesy movie monster. Lucas raised a finger to Gary, "You may laugh now, but you would find out soon enough that they are not to be messed with."

Gary held up his hands as if to surrender, "Alright, alright, I won't mess with them. Could I get a map or something for the safest possible route?"

"Better yet, I could get you a caravan. Well not me personally, but Billy can. He handles the trade caravans around here. He could possibly arrange for you to go with one."

Gary nearly jumped with excitement; this was actually going to happen! He was going to find his dad! "Alright, but before I leave, there are a few things I need to finish here first." Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Such as disarm your nuke."

Gary walked over to a table holding all of his gear. He put on his jumpsuit and started strapping on the leather protection. As he placed his various weapons on his belt and over his shoulder, Gary leaned over to the doctor.

"Hey doc, how much to I owe you?"

"You've already been paid for," and with that, the doctor left the room. Gary looked at Lucas, who simply smiled.

"Lucas you didn't have..."

"Yes I did, kid. Chances are I would be dead if it wasn't for you, so it was the least I could do." Gary threw on his backpack and thanked Lucas. He exited the clinic and proceeded to finish his errands, his dad waited at Galaxy News.

* * *

><p>After escaping from Megaton, Oliver, Burke, and Jericho headed south-west. Oliver bandaged himself up while Jericho wrapped Burke's still bleeding stump of an arm.<p>

"Listen, I'm sorry, I didn't expect my brother to..." Oliver began as he injected himself with a stimpack.

"To out smart you? To nearly kill both you and I? You failed me, and now you will repay me for your failure." Burke shouted, he threw a used stimpack to the ground and walked off ahead of the two. Oliver made a fist, his lip twitched, but he cooled down.

Jericho lit up a cigarette and puffed smoke from his mouth. "'The fuck we goin'?" He grumbled.

"Due to his failure, I need medical treatment. We are going to Fort Bannister." Jericho raised an eyebrow to Burke's response.

Oliver turned to Jericho. "You've heard of the place?"

"They claim dat's where Talon Company holds up."

"Talon Company?" Oliver asked.

Jericho merely laughed at Oliver's question. Before responding, he coughed heavily. "Fuckin' ignorant Vault-kid, you'll meet 'em soon enough."

"Watch what you fuckin' say to me, Jericho." Oliver snapped back, he raised a finger to Jericho's face, who simply slapped it out of the way.

"You think that just cuz you gave me some caps that I'll bend over for ya? Ya just gave me a reason to get back out in this shit-hole, and don't forget it." Jericho said; he took a heavy drag from his cigarette.

The rest of the walk to Fort Bannister was silent, expect from Jericho, who sounded as if he was going to cough up a lung every couple minutes. Oliver ran his hand over his broken nose, it was completely shifted. He went over the bandage he put over his face from the knife wound. He couldn't believe that his face was going to look like this…

The three men arrived at the Fort's walls, looking up, Oliver noticed guards in towers holding assault rifles pointing in their direction. "Put down your damned firearms and open the gates!" Burke shouted. The men immediately realized who Burke was and they scrambled into action. The guards started barking orders to men the ground, the gates to the Fort squeaked as two men unlocked the gate and pulled it open. The two mercenaries closed the gates as soon as the three wanderers entered the fort.

Oliver examined the area; everyone was wearing the same exact outfit, black body armor that had a white emblem, a talon, on it. Debris of larger buildings stood in the area surrounded by tents. Burke made haste for one of the tents, Oliver and Jericho followed closely behind.

"Ah Mr. Burke, what brings you here?" an almost emotionless voice asked. Oliver turned his attention to a mercenary now standing in front Mr. Burke. It was a white male, he had clean cut blond hair, his stature was athletic, and he stood eye to eye with Oliver. The most noteworthy feature of this man was the large sniper rifle on his back.

"I have no time for this Constantine, I must see the doctor." Burke carried on, moving past the mercenary.

"God helps those who help themselves, Mr. Burke." Constantine replied, following Burke. Oliver noticed something about this Constantine character, his voice was cool and suave, similar to Burke's before this whole situation.

"I have no need for your religious nonsense, Constantine." Constantine walked ahead of Burke for a moment as they entered a tent. The merc opened up a man hole and motioned for the men to head in. As Burke went down the ladder, he carried on, "There is no God and this wasteland should prove it."

The four men proceeded down a hall and down a flight of stairs. Everything in the under ground facility was made of metal and there was a mercenary at every corner. "Your lack of faith truly disturbs me, Burke. You should know that everyone..."

"Religion is nothing but the product of the foolhardy." Burke quickly snapped back. "You are a mercenary; your God would never forgive you even if he existed." The men stopped at a metal door, to which Constantine hit the switch to. As it opened, the stench of death swept out into the hall. Oliver felt the contents of his stomach rise up into his throat due to the smell. He was clearly the only one affected by it because the other three walked into the room with ease. Shaking his head vigorously, Oliver walked in last.

Inside the room was an incinerator with a pile of bodies in the corner. Towards the front were several operating tables, each with various amounts of blood. A man with military fatigues and a blood stained doctor's coat stood in front of a table with various medical devices. As the door closed the man jumped, when turning around he was surprised to find people in the room.

"Ah, ah welcome. Mr. Burke! What happened to you?" the man wore glass that appeared to be too large for his head. He was skittish in his movements.

"A minor set back, I need you to replace my hand." Burke said as he came closer to the doctor. The man was taken aback with surprise.

"B-but sir, I haven't perfected the robotic limbs yet. I do not know if it can be properly spliced..."

"We do not have time, just do it." The doctor ran to Burke's side and removed his bloody suit jacket. Before shooing Constantine, Oliver, and Jericho out, Burke shouted something.

"Get me Jabsco!"

"Ah Christ." Jericho muttered.

"Know him?" Oliver asked.

"Kind of, I heard of him before I retired, he thought he was hot shit." Constantine cringed slightly when Jericho swore, but carried on.

"Sounds like the commander. I'm not going to get him quite yet, the procedure should take a while and he hates waiting. What brought about your partnership with Burke?"

"None on your fuckin' business." Oliver stated, once again Constantine closed his eyes and shuttered.

"As you wish." Constantine made a motion with his hands as if to take a bow and he left. Oliver and Jericho glanced at each other the mercenary walked out.

"That guy seem a bit odd to you?" Oliver asked.

"Wasn't a normal merc, at least by the wasteland's standards. Religious? And cringing like a pussy? No fuckin way is he a real merc." Jericho replied.

Oliver didn't respond, he simply thought. He tried to play through what had happened earlier this day in his head. How did Gary get that detonation device? They cleared out the raiders in the school... Then they took a break where Oliver suggested the idea of blowing up Megaton... then he went to find a Nuka-Cola...

"Sonova bitch." He muttered. He left his backpack with his brother when he went to find pop. How was he so fuckin' stupid? He might as well have handed the device over himself. One thing he knew, Gary would pay. He certainly didn't care that they were brothers, that didn't matter any more. He scarred him and ruined what could have been a successful future. All he had to do was decide if he was to find Gary first or his dad. Then again... he wondered what Burke had in mind for him.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the door to the clinic/morgue opened. Oliver was the first to walk in, Jericho followed closely behind. Burke was sitting on an operating table, holding his new hand. Essentially the new left hand just looked like a claw with three large pinchers.

The doctor looked up as the men entered. "Am I to fix him up as well?" he said, motioning to Oliver.

"He is to learn the price of failure." Burke said; his voice was calm yet again. He stood up and put his suit jacket back on. Without staying further on the subject, he asked "Where is Jabsco?"

"Right here Burke." Oliver turned to a man now entering the clinic. He was a large man wearing metal armor that had spikes on the shoulders. A large combat knife was noticeably placed on his hip. "Now would you care to explain why you showed up to my fort uninvited?"

"I come here with business. Business I know you could accomplish. There is a new… inconvenience running about the Capital Wasteland. His name is Gary North. I want him dead."

Jabsco snickered and rubbed his chin. "You are aware of the fact that having my men search for this man will cost caps correct? A lot of caps?"

"I am fully aware of the cost of this, and I am willing to pay the bill when I see his head on a silver platter."

Oliver turned to Burke, interrupting the conversation. "Let me kill him, I'll do it for free."

Burke's expression turned sour quickly, "You had your chance and you blew it, I have other plans for you as it is." He turned his attention back to Jabsco. "I want your best men on this job, he may seem incapable of fighting but you will find out otherwise."

Jabsco looked at Constantine who had just entered the room. "You hear that Constantine?" The mercenary simply nodded in response to the Commander. "I'm placing you on the clean-up squad."

"Sir, we are going to need to first gather intelligence on the target before going for the assassination."

"I will make you job easier." Burke started. "North looks like this one." He said pointing to Oliver. "They are twins, erase the scars and bandages and you have the target."

Jabsco laughed in response to Burke's comment. He leaned towards Oliver. "Your brother really did a number on ya didn't he? I think we just learned who was the tougher of the two didn't we boys?"

"Shut you fuckin' mouth before I close it for you." Oliver said without thinking. Constantine looked away, as if he already knew what to expect next. Jericho slowly went for his assault rifle on his back, expecting a fight. Jabsco looked at Oliver, flabbergasted.

Oliver had no time to react as Jabsco pounced on him and shoved his combat knife in his face. "I'll gut you, kid. Don't forget it, alright?"

Before Oliver responded, Burke spoke up. "Gentlemen let us all settle down, we all want the same thing, the death of Gary North. Did God ever say the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Burke directed the last part to Constantine, who completely ignored the comment.

After several minutes, Burke, Jericho, and Oliver left Fort Bannister and headed to their next destination. The contract was set, and mercenaries were already sent out to kill Gary. Burke led the group south-west from their current location.

As they marched on, Oliver noticed a large tower in the distance. "What's that?" Oliver wondered aloud.

"Tenpenny Tower, the crown jewel of the Capital Wasteland." Burke said. Oliver looked back at the building; it had to be the tallest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Why the 'ell are we goin somewhere so ritzy?" Jericho asked.

"This is my… base of operations if you will. If it doesn't suit you, you do not have to stay."

"So does that mean we'll be stayin' here?" Oliver butted in. The sun was starting to set and they would need somewhere to rest for the night. To Oliver, staying in some kind of ritzy tower sounded like something he deserved.

"No," Burke simply said. Oliver stared at him, murderous intent in his eyes.

"What the fuck do you mean no? You want us to stay out here?" They were now right in front of the tower's entrance. A rusted metal door appeared to be the only entrance to the tower, which was set up like a compound. A large concrete wall surrounded the entire perimeter of Tenpenny Tower.

"In a sense, yes, you are to stay out here until you complete a task for me. You failed me once so now you must redeem yourself." Burke said. The door slid open and Burke walked in, it immediately shut behind him. There were bars allowing one to see from both sides, which Burke looked through. "You must eliminate a nuisance of mine."

Oliver crossed his arms. "I'm listening."

"Good. Roy Philips is a ghoul who has been attempting to enter Tenpenny Tower for quite some time now. The residents of Tenpenny Tower shall not tainted by having this scum in our confines. I want him and his companions dead, and I need proof."

Oliver had nothing against ghouls, but as far as he was concerned, they stood in between him and his own goals. "Where do we find these ghouls?"

"Ah, I like your eagerness. Head west and you will find the Warrington train yard. My intel states that Philips has been seen there many a time. Happy hunting." Burke tipped his hat with his new mechanical hand, as if to remind Oliver why he is doing this, and left for the entrance of the tower. Oliver spit on the ground and started walking west, Jericho trailing behind.

"The wasteland everythin you've been expectin', kid?" Jericho asked.

"Everything and more." Oliver responded. "What do you know about Burke, Jericho?"

"He was always in the corner of Moriarty's, only drank wine, which set off a couple of flags for me. A damn creep if ya ask me." Jericho took out his lighter and cigarette and lit up another cigarette.

"Noted." The two traveled in silence, the crunching of rocks under their boots was the only noise that followed them. As they walked, Oliver's pip-boy crackled to life as the Geiger counter spluttered to life. "Radiation."

"Oh great, I'm gonna grow a fourth arm." Jericho muttered. Olive snickered and shook his head to Jericho's comment. They appeared to be at the train yard, seeing as there was a single train car parked on rails. Oliver withdrew his sword and laser pistol and marched ahead of Jericho. He came about a door; he turned and nodded to Jericho in silence, then entered.

The hallway's walls were chipping, and tiles on the floor were turned over. A skeleton decorated the floor to the left, along with two assault rifle clips and an assault rifle. Oliver quickly rushed ahead and scooped the two magazines up and placed them on his belt. He picked up the assault rifle and examined it, it was different from the one that Jericho had.

"American made, piece of shit compared to the Chinese model." Jericho spoke up. Oliver ignored him, a gun killed things, and an assault rifle just killed things faster. Oliver put away his other weapons and carried his new assault rifle. He headed through another door, which led to the train tracks. Using the tracks as his guide, Oliver walked along side them hoping they would lead him to this ghoul.

A shriek caught Oliver by surprise; he frantically looked for the source of the noise. "Ghouls!" Jericho shouted, pointing out in front of him. Oliver finally realized that in the distance, there were scrawny figures running towards them. They looked like ghouls, they were completely devoid of hair, their pupils were pure white, were hunched over, and seemed to be lacking intelligence.

Jericho wasted no time opening fire on the group of ghouls, four in total. One was immediately mowed down from a burst of Jericho's assault rifle. The three remaining ghouls charged at the two men. One was in rags; the other two appeared to have some sort of armor on. Oliver opened up with a burst from his own assault rifle, catching a ghoul in the head, which exploded on contact. The other two were no match for Oliver and Jericho; they were killed in no time at all.

"YEA!" Jericho shouted, as he continued to fire at the corpses of the ghouls. "Forgot how it was out here!" He reloaded his gun and placed it on his back. Oliver simply stared at his companion.

"So what did you say you did before this? You were a raider?" Oliver kept his assault rifle out as he walked. "Got any interesting stories?"

"For another time, kid. We got shit to take care of." Jericho said quickly.

"Not in the sharing mood, Jericho? No stories of rape and pillaging? Mindless slaughter of innocence?"

"Shut the fuck up, kid." Jericho said once again, his voice raising. Oliver squinted his eyes to Jericho and simply shook his head. There was a door to their left, which Oliver opened. Two ghouls were crouched looking at the ground. Since Oliver had the element of surprise, he easily killed the ghouls single-handedly.

"So you said these were ghouls?" Oliver questioned as they walked. "Why do they look different from the other ghouls I've met? Like the bartender at Moriarty's?"

"Do I look like you're fuckin' museum guide here kid? Ya know what, don't answer that ya smart ass. These ghouls are feral. They're a buncha mindless zombies. After a while, all ghouls turn feral, it'sa part of life."

"Well that… sucks." The rest of their traveling was spent in silence, with the occasional gun shot. Oliver was getting bored, ghouls, ghouls, and hey waddaya know? More ghouls. As they entered a new room, something caught his eye; on the Metro wall was an arrow with "The revolution starts here"

"Must be the ghouls." Oliver said, Jericho coughed in response. The two men walked into a large open room; there was a second floor and an escalator leading upstairs.

"Hey! You two!" Came a voice from above. Oliver and Jericho looked up; a ghoul stood there was a sub-machine gun. "If you don't put away your weapons I'll shoot you two!"

"I'm just here to see Roy Philips, he here?" Oliver shouted back.

"Oh is that so? Is he expecting you? Well then, run along. It's not wise to keep Roy waiting. Has a bit of a temper that one. Head through the gate. You watch yourself. "

"Yea I'll keep that in mind." Oliver said. He noticed the gate and walked through it, Jericho trailing behind.

"What's the plan?"

"Gonna get up to this Roy Philips, see the whites of his eyes, kill him and steal his stuff. That's the plan." The two men carried on, heading through corridors until they ended up at what appeared to be a living quarters.

"Roy Philips!" Oliver shouted.

"What do you want?" Came a raspy voice from around the corner. A ghoul in leather armor appeared, his was blue and he had no nose.

Oliver withdrew his sword. "Burke of Tenpenny Tower sends his regards." He jabbed the sword upward into the ghoul's stomach. Philips' eyes widened, he spit up blood that ran down his mouth.

"Fu-fuck you." Philips muttered. Oliver twisted the blade in the ghoul's stomach and pulled it out. Philips crumbled to the ground, holding his wound. A gurgling noise emitted from his mouth as more blood poured out. Oliver twirled the blade in his hands.

"Time to meet your maker." Oliver said as he brought the blade down on Roy's neck. Blood erupted onto the ground; the entire floor was now covered in a sea of red. The head rolled onto ground, the eyes stared up at the ceiling.

It then occurred to Oliver that he had no idea how many ghouls there were in this area, there might have been a dozen people here. His attention was caught when a high pitched, raspy scream came from the right. A female ghoul had entered the room; she obviously saw the corpse of Roy Philips on the ground. Jericho reacted quicker then Oliver, he shot a single bullet in her head and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"The hell is goin on here?" A voice from behind, the same ghoul that they met before. Oliver withdrew his 10mm pistol; as soon as the ghoul entered he fired a single round. The ghoul's eye exploded like a bloody grape as the bullet made contact. Oliver blew the smoke from the gun and placed it back on his belt.

"I'll check the next room." Jericho stated. He walked through the doorway that the female ghoul had come through. "Clear!" He shouted back. Oliver picked up a small bag that he saw in the corner. He walked back to Philips' head and shoved it into the bag. Burke would have his proof that the ghouls were dead, and Oliver would have a nice place inside Tenpenny Tower. Oliver simply smiled as he continued to raid the ghouls' quarters.

* * *

><p>"Well everything is set on my end." Billy Creel stated triumphantly to Gary. He had arranged a trade caravan to go with Gary to go to Galaxy New Radio. It was around five in the afternoon now. Gary had confronted Leo Stahl about his drug problem, helped Moria Brown, and disarmed a freakin' nuke. A pretty productive day in his eyes. He had a good amount of caps now, and Lucas Simms even gave him the key to a new house for all of his good deeds. Gary was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to use it until he got back though.<p>

"I couldn't thank you enough, Billy. I really appreciate it." Gary said, extending a hand to his new friend. "I believe I'm all set." Gary examined himself, shotgun on back, pistol in its holster, knife on belt. He had a bandolier with plenty of shotgun shells, and a bag full of 10mm pistol mags. His backpack was full of food and medical supplies.

"Well in that case, if you've said your goodbyes, the caravan is waiting outside." Billy stated.

"Lead the way." The two men walked out of Megaton, a group of armed men were near the entrance, standing near the robot that guarded the gates of Megaton.

"Boys! This is Gary North, he's gonna be joinin' you all." Billy raised his voice so everyone could hear.

Gary stepped ahead. "Thanks again for agreeing to take me along with ya." An Asian man walked up to Gary and shook his hand.

"Hey the more the merrier, right? You could call me the Chairman! This is my caravan!" The man wore a large brown jacket with many pockets, he had goggles around his neck, and a pistol on his hip.

Gary couldn't help but smile at the man's name. "The Chairman? Like the communist leader?"

The Chairman laughed, as if no one had ever understood the joke. "It appears that we have an educated one here guys! Yes, when I first started this little caravan of mine I was accused of being a commie, apparently they didn't like my wares. Well I accepted the name with open arms as a kind of joke." He leaned in towards Gary. "To tell you the truth I don't even think I'm Chinese. I'm pretty sure my family comes from Japan."

Gary smiled; this should be an interesting trip. "You could meet the rest of the guys as we go along." Gary nodded in agreement, he was anxious to get going. "Oh before I forget! This is Dogmeat! He serves as our mascot I guess you could say!" The Chairman exclaimed happily, pointing to a dog that was panting near the rest of the men. Upon hearing his name, Dogmeat ran up to Gary and started sniffing him. Gary had never met a dog that hadn't tried to kill him, so he was nervous at first, but slowly eased into the new experience. He crouched down and petted the dog; he wasn't an expert on pre-war dogs, so he had no idea what kind of breed of dog it was. To Gary, it kind of looked like the dogs he saw cops use in Pre-War movies.

"Heterochromia." Gary muttered. Dogmeat's most noticeable feature was the fact that his right eye was brown and his left was blue. Gary stood up and petted the dog once again. "Well we ready?" Gary questioned.

"Yep!" Responded the Chairman, "Let's head out!" The Chairman pointed a finger towards the East and the men started marching. Gary followed behind, he turned around to Billy and waved, Megatons slowly vanished as the group walked off in the distance.

Gary decided to strike up a conversation with the nearest guard of the caravan. He was standing right next the two headed cow with the entirety of the luggage, which Gary found out was called a Brahmin.

"Hey, I'm Gary." Gary stated as he walked alongside the man. The man had tanned skin and black hair; he appeared to be of some Hispanic descent. He was wearing leather armor and had an assault rifle on his back. His hair was cut short to his head, yet he had a single row of hair in the style of a Mohawk. The man simply looked at Gary and remained stone-faced.

"Um… What's your name?"

The man turned to Gary, no emotion was present still. "Pablo Jorge Sanchez Gonzalez Morales the Third."

Gary could only stare at the man, his eyes were wide. "Um… really?" Gary had no idea if the man was serious or not. Pablo Jorge Sanchez Gonzalez Morales the Third cracked a smile and started laughing.

"Nah I'm just having some fun with you man, the name is Carlos, Carlos Vega-Lopez at your service. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ha, you got me there, I had no idea if you were serious or not." Gary admitted.

"Don't worry; you weren't the first to fall for that." Carlos responded. The two men continued to talk throughout most of their short journey. Gary did most of the talking, explaining his escape from the Vault, looking for his father, and his separation from his brother. The entire group listened closely to his story. Nightfall came upon them as they passed the Super-Duper Mart. They crossed a river on a bridge; Gary's Pip-boy read a good amount of radiation in the river. He wondered if most of the water in the DC area was irradiated.

"We are stopping here for the night; we should be at Galaxy News Radio tomorrow. We could trade with the Brotherhood of Steel and then make our way to Rivet City." The Chairman stated. Gary thought everything sounded Greek, he had no idea what the Brotherhood was or Rivet City.

The men took off their packs and started taking out food. Gary sat next to Carlos and started fishing around his bag for food. He removed a can of beans and took out his combat knife. After sticking the knife into the top of the can, Gary worked the knife around in a circle and opened the can.

"So how many days you been out here kid?" Asked one of the guards, John 'Ace' , as he started making a fire.

"I believe this is my third." The guard whistled in response to Gary.

"Damn, you've gone through hell in those three days haven't ya?"

"I'd say so." John successfully made the fire and took a seat next to Gary. He lit up a cigarette and laid back on his backpack. Gary held his can of beans over the fire and waited for the food to warn up. The metal quickly got hot and Gary and to place the can back down.

"Make it easy on yourself." Carlos spoke up. He offered Gary a cooking pot.

"Thanks, looks like I didn't think of everything." Gary said as he gratefully accepted the pot. He placed the beans on the pot and held it over the fire by the handle. Once the beans were done, Gary poured them back in the can and ate straight out of it.

The group ate their meals and shared stories of the Wastes. 'This is a good group of guys.' Gary thought to himself. They gave him advice on surviving out in the Wasteland. He bought a bandana and a pair of goggles from The Chairman because they said protecting his face from the sun was essential.

"Despite being stylish, goggles also offer a practical side." Carlos joked. "When the wind picks up dirt, it won't get in your eyes. And of course the bandana could be used for multiple purposes."

"Alright, got it." Gary tied the bandana around his head and placed the goggle on his forehead.

"Hey you wanna smoke?" John asked, an unlit cigarette in hand.

"I've never smoked before."

"Well it passes the time, here ya go." Gary accepted the cigarette and placed it in his mouth. John gave him a lighter. Gary lit the cigarette and stared blankly at John.

"Now inhale." Gary did, but a bit too hard. Gary broke out into a coughing fit. The group of men started laughing hysterically at his expense. Gary put the cigarette in between his fingers and looked at the lighter. There was the shape of a playing card symbol, a spade.

"I'm a regular ace at cards; hence my name of course. John 'The Ace'. I etched the spade in for luck." John stated.

"Yea so never play cards with him." called a guard from across the fire.

Gary traced his finger around the shape. "For luck..." Everything was so peaceful, he just stared at the lighter.

Then all hell broke loose.

Dirt started kicking up as the sound of guns filled the air. Several explosions went off and a scream of agony was heard. "Oh fuck! Ambush!" shouted someone. Gary didn't know what was going on, his senses were incredibly distorted and his mind was racing.

"Get up kid!" That was John. He felt a strong hand on his arm pulling him up. As he stood up, Gary pulled his goggles over his eyes. He didn't know exactly where they were being shot from, but Dogmeat ran off and that is where he assumed the assailants were. Another explosion went off, so they had grenades. The pack Brahmin fell over in a pool of its own blood.

"Give 'em hell boys!" Shouted the Chairman over the fire. The only reasonable gun Gary had for range was his pistol so he crouched down behind a boulder and started firing.

"Mierda!" Carlos shouted from behind. Gary turned; the guard's shoulder was bleeding heavily.

"You alright?" Gary shouted back.

"Si a Si, just keep firing at them!" Carlos yelled back. Gary realized that the boulder he was behind didn't give him very good cover, so he had to make a run for it.

"Lay down some covering fire or something! I'm movin!" Gary quickly got up and moved backwards while firing his pistol.

Then a grenade landed at his feet.

"Move!" Suddenly Gary got thrown to the ground; someone was on top of him just as the grenade went off. Gary pushed the person off him, to his horror it was John. Shrapnel had ripped his body apart, metal stuck out of his face. Gary felt like he was going to throw up, but he resisted the urge. He got out from under the corpse and took John's hunting rifle and bandolier.

A shout of pain came out of nowhere, it was the Chairman. 'Oh crap, we are so screwed right now.' Gary thought to himself as he his behind the corpse of the Brahmin.

"Gary! Run! There should be a train station entrance near! Just get out and find your dad!" It was Carlos.

"But what about..." Gary started.

"JUST RUN DAMMIT!" Gary felt like a coward doing it, but he had to, he had to find his dad, and wasn't going to let anything get in his way. Gary got up from his spot, rifle in hand, and started running. He didn't know if the train station was near, but he just had to run.

Over all of the commotion, Gary heard growling. All he could do was hope it was Dogmeat. Gary cautiously carried on. Then he possibly had the best luck he had come by since he came out to the Wasteland. Gary had found the subway entrance and Dogmeat. The canine was hunched over a person, ripping out their throat.

"Good boy!" Gary shouted. Dogmeat turned his attention away from the now dead person and now to Gary. At first he growled, flashing his bloody teeth, but then started waging his tail and panting. Gary ran to he dog and petted him.

"Come on boy, we gotta leave."

Dogmeat seemed to understand because he whimpered and faced the direction of the fight. "I'm sorry boy... your friends are dead. But you have me, we have each other, we'll get out of this together." Gary couldn't help but feel stupid talking to a dog, but it kind of made him feel good knowing he had a companion.

Gary noticed the corpse of the man Dogmeat attacked. The person was a bloody mess; he wore black combat armor and was wielding an assault rifle. Who was this guy? It wasn't a typical raider. Gary stopped thinking about the man, determined to carry on and live.

The North boy and his new dog slowly walked down the stairs to the subway. Not knowing what laid ahead, Gary put the hunting rifle over his shoulder and took out his shotgun. He turned on his Pip-boy light. With Dogmeat at his side, Gary entered the unknown abyss of the subway station.


	5. A Behemoth of a Problem

**Chapter 5: A Behemoth of a Problem**

_Battle is an orgy of disorder_

* * *

><p>Constantine looked upon the ravaged remains of the battlefield. He stood up and placed his sniper, <em>Manus Dei<em>, on his back. Most of his four man squad had been eliminated, except for one other man. He did not know this man's name; he was just another Talon Company underling to him.

As he walked past the corpses of his fellow mercenaries, Constantine muttered a prayer under his breath. He fished his rosary out from under his combat armor and kissed it. The sun was beginning to rise over the rubble of the Capital Wasteland.

"Fu-fuck you, both of you! You bastards at Talon Company have nothing better to do then come after a simple caravan!" One of the caravan guards was still alive. Constantine crossed the battle field and met up with the other mercenary who was patronizing the guard who was on the ground.

"You have a problem with us, bitch?" Sneered the mercenary, he kicked the guard in the stomach. The man shouted in pain and rolled onto his back. The mercenary stomped on the guard's shoulder, where he had a bullet wound.

"Enough." Constantine quickly stated, pulling the merc off the man. The mercenary shook Constantine off and turned to him.

"What the fuck man? I'm havin fun here."

"I'm in charge, you will not disobey and order, _my order_, do you hear me?" Constantine asked, pointing a finger directly in the merc's face.

"Jesus Christ you're no fun man." That set Constantine off. He pulled the magnum that was strapped to his hip and placed it directly to the mercenary's face.

"_You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain_" Constantine pulled back the hammer of his .44 magnum. "I will not tolerate that again, do you understand?" The mercenary had only fear in his eyes; he raised his hands as if to surrender.

The merc swallowed loudly, "Yes sir, I'm sorry."

Constantine placed the magnum back in its holster on his leg and bent down next to the guard. "Tell me, what is your name?" The guard spit in Constantine's face, hitting him on the right cheek.

"Why the hell do you care?" Shouted the wounded guard.

Constantine took his gloved hand and wiped the saliva from his face. "Are you gonna take that?" Shouted the mercenary behind him.

"_Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." _Constantine said, turning his face to the fallen guard. The man could only stare at him blankly. "Now, shall you tell me your name? It is in your best interest."

"Carlos Vega-Lopez, remember it."

"I shall Mr. Vega-Lopez. Now could can you please tell me, was Gary North with you and your caravan?"

Carlos' mind raced, were they after Gary? He felt slightly betrayed, did Gary know the entire time about Talon Company and he didn't tell them? "Gary who?" was all he could say.

Constantine smiled. "Do you think me a stupid man Mr. Vega-Lopez? I am sure that Mr. North appreciates it, and it is admirable that you are protecting him, but you must tell us if he was with you and where he went."

"I don't know who the fuck you are talking about! And I wouldn't sell anyone out to a bunch of scum bags like Talon Company!" Carlos shouted.

"_Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice._ I assure you that if something had happened in the past, my people apologize for it. Let us not allow the past to interrupt the present." Constantine said. Carlos recognized that he was being sincere, it was in his voice.

"Fuck this!" Shouted the merc from behind Constantine. "We aren't going to get anywhere with all of your happy friendship bull-shit!" The man withdrew his assault rifle and pointed it to Carlos' face. "Talk! Now!"

A moan was heard in the distance, another person was alive. "We're not gonna get anywhere with this guy, let's just kill him and get the info outta this guy. I bet that'll work." The mercenary walked over to the person and pulled him over to Carlos and Constantine, yet Constantine paid no attention.

Constantine removed his magnum and checked it, fully loaded. He raised the gun, "Yes maybe."

Carlos stared at the magnum wide-eyed. Constantine had no emotion in his face as he aimed the weapon.

A shot rang out in the night sky.

* * *

><p>Gary's heart was racing, anticipating what was to come. His boot clicked on the floor as he walked to the door and pressed the button on the left hand side. As the door opened, the once pitch-black room flooded with light. Gary recoiled and held his hands up to his eyes.<p>

"Surprise!"

The date is July 13, 2268. The North brothers' 10th birthday.

"C'mon Stanley! You turned the lights on to fast, you blinded the boys!" Gary could easily point out Officer Gomez's voice form behind the blinding lights.

"Happy Birthday!" Vision now regained, Gary looked around at the guests. Most of the Vault was inside the diner, and Oliver was standing right next to him with a smile from cheek to cheek. Their dad was in front of the two; he bent down and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"Happy birthday, boys! I can't believe the two of you are already 10! I'm so proud of the both of you." James North looked down and back up, a solemn smile across his face. He looked at his sons, growing up so fast. "If only your mother…"

The Overseer walked up the North family and interrupted James. "Congratulations, I don't have to tell the two of you how special this day is do I?" He carried on without waiting for a response. "Down here in Vault 101, when you turn 10… well, you're ready to take on your first official Vault responsibilities. So here you are."

From behind his back, the Overseer withdrew two Pip-boys. Oliver and Gary's faces lit up, the smiling growing wider. "A Pip-boy 3000, one for the each of you! The two of you will be getting your first work assignments tomorrow." The Overseer chuckled to himself and turned around, leaving the boys to stare at their new gadgets.

Gary and Oliver turned to each other nervously, was he serious? James looked at his boys and gave a reassuring smile. "Have a good birthday; you are only 10 once right? So have fun." Oliver turned to his brother, who was already pressing the various buttons and knobs on the face of the Pip-boy. Oliver slid the device over his left arm and watched as the screen came to life.

Out of the corner of Oliver's eye, he saw Amata come up to him. "Happy birthday! We really surprised…"

"Amata! Can't you see we're playing with our fancy new _Pip-boys?_" Oliver questioned, jabbing it to Amata that she was younger. Gary looked to his brother.

"Come on, Oliver. Thanks, Amata. You did surprise us." Gary shot his brother a dirty look and then turned back to his friend.

"You know, your dad was afraid you were onto us. But I told him not to worry. You're so easy to fool."

Oliver let out a loud snort. "You didn't fool me! I just pretend not to know." He looked at the ground and tapped his boot on the tile. Gary knew that he was lying, they were brothers, and they did everything together. If he didn't know there was no way Oliver knew.

"Oh yea?" Amata placed her hands on her hips. "If you're so smart, then what did I get you two for your birthday?"

A smile crossed Oliver's face. "A date with Christine Kendall?" Gary placed his head in his hands after hearing his brother's response. A look of disgust covered Amata's face.

"Ew, I didn't even know you liked girls. And don't say anything, I don't mean it like that."

"Amata you didn't have to give us anything." Gary said and smiled.

"Of course I did, silly! You're my best friend…s" She added on the's' after remembering Oliver. Barely able to contain her excitement, Amata quickly took out a curled up comic book. "Who's your favorite barbarian? Grognak! It's issue 14! And there are no missing pages."

Gary and Oliver looked and each other and practically tackled Amata. The boys shared a love for violent comics. "Be careful! You may rip it!" Amata added in as the boys grabbed the comic from her hands. The boys rattled off their thanks as they looked at the comic.

"I better let you two get back to 'mingling' with everyone. We could talk later. Happy birthday!"

The boys seemingly ignored the girl as she walked away; the two were too enticed with their new comic. Having the attention spans of normal ten year old boys they quickly got bored and went on to new things. The boys went their separate ways to speak with the various party goers.

"Hey Officer Gomez!" Oliver exclaimed. "I'm really glad you came! Did you get me a baton? Or a gun? I could use them to train to be a guard!" Officer Gomez smiled at Oliver's enthusiasm and ignored the comment about the weapon.

"Hey, one day bud you may be able to become a guard just like me. Hold off though; live it up while you are young."

Gary was talking with Stanley, the mechanic in the Vault. He received two red baseball caps, one for him, one for his brother. Gary was fascinated with the technology behind his Pip-boy; Stanley gave a few pointers here and there about the device.

"Hey guess what?" Oliver quickly ran up to Gary, his hands behind his back.

"What?"

"I gotta sweet roll from Ol' Lady Palmer." He held the treat out in front of him proudly, as if displaying a trophy.

"Well we have cake so we could probably eat that later…" Gary started saying, but as if on cue, Andy the robot decided to cut the birthday cake, with a buzz saw. The cake exploded in several large chunks that now adorned the floor and walls. Gary turned to his brother. "Or now, we could probably eat that now." The two laughed and split the treat in two. The boys watched as their dad passed them and walked to the intercom on the wall.

"Hey!" The North brothers sighed heavily, that was Butch DeLoria, the bully. "I'm hungry and that stupid robot destroyed the cake! Gimme that sweet roll!"

Gary's mind raced, he didn't know what to say. He had never been in a fight and he felt that Butch would start a fight over something simple such as food.

Oliver on the other hand had no problem thinking.

"No way in hell, Butch. What happened? Has your mom drunk up all the food coupons or something?" Oliver then smiled. "Ya know what, here ya go." He spit in the sweet roll and smashed it into Butch's face. Gary was horrified by what his brother had done; Butch was going to be pissed! Butch stumbled back into a table and wiped the food from his face.

"I'm going to kill you!" Butch shrieked, as he launched himself from the table. He knocked into Oliver and the two were now on the ground. Oliver was on the bottom and Butch was trying to work his hands around his neck. Oliver swung out wildly with his right hand and made contact with Butch's nose.

"Hey! Hey! Enough!" Officer Gomez rushed up from his seat to the fight. He pulled the boys away from each other and held them apart. "Butch! Take a seat!" He motioned to an empty chair in the corner and then turned to Oliver. "You OK son? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Butch tried to steal my food from me. When he tried to take it from my hands it slipped and he was hit in the face with it. Then he attacked me." Oliver even wiped his eye for added effect. Gary stared at his brother, that silver tongued devil, he was good at lying.

Officer Gomez shot a look at Butch. "I'm going to have to teach Butch a lesson; he's going to have to stop this nonsense." He then walked off to chastise Butch.

"Thanks for the help there." Oliver said sarcastically.

Gary crossed his arms. "You obviously had the situation under control." He smirked.

"You two alright?" James rushed to the side of his boys.

"Yea, we showed Butch" Oliver laughed. James sighed and passed his hand through his hair.

"I'm glad to hear it. Once you start letting bullies push you around, you'll never see the end of it. By the way, that was Jonas on the intercom. He and I have been cooking up a surprise present for the two of you." He waited to see the reactions on both his sons' faces. They both lit up, the enthusiasm leaking off of them.

"He is waiting for you guys downstairs on the Reactor Level. Go ahead, I don't think anyone will mind if you slip out for a few minutes."

"Race ya," Gary quickly shot at his brother.

"You're on." Oliver responded. The two brothers ran out the door and went down the hall. They nearly bumped into Beatrice, a lady about their dad's age, but went around their obstacle. Oliver was slightly ahead of Gary the entire way, but when faced with the stairs, Gary jumped down and rolled to victory.

"HA! Beat you!" Gary exclaimed. Oliver panted and waved off his brother.

"You got lucky, now let's get our present." The boys walked forward, Jonas turned around when he heard the sound of boots on the metal floor. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the two.

"And what are you two doing down here? I though that children weren't allowed on the Reactor level."

"Hey Jonas we're not kids!" Gary exclaimed. "We're ten!" Jonas chuckled to himself and nodded his head in agreement.

"That you are. Look here, Pip-boy and everything! If you two can wait just one more minute, I think your dad will want to give the surprise himself."

The two boys turned to each other and murmured back and forth, exchanging ideas on what they though the surprise was. The familiar sound of boots on tiles echoed down the hall and the boys jumped excitedly as their dad entered.

"Are the two of you ready for your surprise?"

"Yes! Yes! What kind of surprise?"

"The Overseer gave you your Pip-boy, and you're old enough to do some work. So I figure you're old enough for this." James opened up his lab coat and retrieved a wooden gun. "Your own BB gun! It's a tad old, but it should work perfectly. I'm sorry there is only one, but you boys could easily share."

The boys examined their new toy carefully, this was a weapon. An object capable of hurting someone… slightly. James carried on. "Jonas found it down here. It was in pretty rough shape—took us a good three months to find the parts to get it working again. Do you know how tough it is to find a spring that small? Good thing Butch 'misplaced' that switchblade of his."

The four of them exchanged laughter. The two were eager to try out the BB gun. "So what do you say? Want to give it a try?" James asked his sons.

"Sure, what do we get to kill?" Olive bluntly stated.

James chuckled, trying to pass it off as a joke. "Easy now. It's only a BB gun, but it's not a toy. Let's go try it out. Jonas and I have found a nice spot for you. Follow me."

"Winner gets first dibs." Gary said as he held the BB gun. Oliver nodded, it was only fair. As the two passed Jonas they gave him their thanks. In the next room there were three targets set up. Gary walked up to the barricade and turned back to his dad, as if for approval. James nodded and Gary readied the gun. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The target spun as the BB made contact with the surface.

"I got it!" Gary shouted. He was the most excited he had ever been in his brief ten years of existence. He quickly changed his sights to the two remaining targets, hitting them as well. "I got them!" Gary repeated, a smile adorned his face.

"My turn! My turn!" Oliver ran up to his brother and practically ripped the BB gun from his hands. Just as he was about to aim at the targets, a large object jumped out in front of them.

"It's a Radroach!" James spoke up. "Careful now. Think you can take care of that with the BB gun? Just aim and shoot. You'll be fine."

The concept of killing something thrilled Oliver. He aimed the BB gun at the Radroach and pulled the trigger, missed. He was angered at first; Gary made it on his first try! He breathed heavily and adjusted his aim. When he pulled the trigger the Radroach's minuscule head exploded in a yellowish mess. The adrenaline coursing through his veins, Oliver took several more shots at the corpse for good measure.

"Nicely done, that's one less Radroach we have to worry about." James said, he walked up to Oliver and placed his hand on his shoulder. "How about we get a picture boys? Capture the moment."

James turned the boys around to face Jonas. He hugged the boys to his side, the boys, his sons. Jonas took out a camera and fiddled with it for a bit before looking ready.

"Everyone say cheese!" Jonas said.

"Cheese!"

The camera flashed, the light flooded the North family.

James, Gary, and Oliver. They were all each other had.

* * *

><p>Gary shook himself as he woke up. He rubbed his eyes and panned around the closet he was in. The door was still closed shut, Dogmeat was at his feet. The two had found a service closet in the subway tunnels and decided to take a nap. If anyone was following him, hopefully they would have passed by.<p>

Gary stood up, careful not to kick his new dog companion. He stretched and placed his guns on his back. He thought about the dream he had, reliving his tenth birthday. He missed the Vault, he missed his friends, he missed Amata. He wished life was as care free as it had once been. He had been down shooting those targets every day practicing his aim. Now Gary was firing live rounds, not small round pellets.

Awakened from the noise, Dogmeat barked, breaking Gary's daydreaming sequence. Gary kneeled down and patted the dog. "Morning boy."

Dogmeat panted in response, his tongue hanging out while being petted. "How about we get outta here?" Dogmeat seemed to nod in agreement. Gary opened up the door to the service closet and peeked out around the corner. The corpses of the ghouls that they killed last night littered the ground. Seeing that the coast was clear, Gary and Dogmeat walked out to find an exit from the subway tunnels.

After heading up a set of stairs, Gary spoke up. "Not like I'm ungrateful for the company, but I really wish you could talk." Gary said to his new dog companion. Dogmeat barked in response. "Well it appears you completely understand me, it's a start."

To Gary's surprise, his Pip-boy crackled to life. He looked at the screen, "New radio station found… Galaxy News Radio!" Maybe he would be able to get some information off of this radio station. Gary fumbled with the device on his arm and turned on the radio.

An eccentric voice greeted Gary on the radio; it was booming and filled with excitement. "Today's weather: excessively violent with a chance of dismemberment! Tune in later for our 5-Day forecast!"

"Well that is pleasant to say the least." Gary mumbled.

"Now for the news! Now a while back I told you about someone leaving Vault 101... guess what? Now people are saying that someone else walked out of there. What the hell is going on down there? Revolution? Vacation? Somebody fart? Your guess is as good as mine kids. Well this is Three Dog and you're listening to GNR! That's Galaxy News Radio in case you forgot! Now for some music…"

"Well I'd have to say this guy is good at his job, makes things… interesting." Gary thought aloud, Dogmeat barked as if to agree to his comment. Gary stopped in his tracks and put his hand to his chin. "Wait… someone? Not multiple people? Has he not realized that two people had exited the Vault at the same time? That should prove interesting, seeing as we look the same. We would be seen as one person with some serious mood swings…"

Gary stopped when Dogmeat went into a fit of barks. "What's wrong boy?" Gary looked ahead, light! It must be around five in the morning already, Gary couldn't believe he wasted hours in the subway station. "Let's just hope that we are where we need to be." Gary said as he removed his new hunting rifle and prepared it.

Gary examine his Pip-boy, the map said they about to enter Chevy Chase. There was a metal gate that led outside. "Now or never." He mumbled as he pulled the gate open. The goggles that Gary had adorned earlier deflected the rays of the sun as it covered his body. As he walked up the stairs, Dogmeat at his side, Gary couldn't help but whistle. Gary was standing in Washington DC, or where the nation's capital used to be. The buildings were in massive heaps of rubble.

Any building that wasn't destroyed looked as if it was going to collapse as Gary stood there. Rust covered any metal exposed. The concrete of the streets were completely destroyed, cars were upturned.

Dogmeat was still growling, which didn't go well with Gary. He kept his hunting rifle close to him, finger around the trigger. He scanned the area, everything was eerily quite. The wind whistled through the burnt out buildings. Dirt and debris flew through the wind; the goggles Gary wore protected his eyes from the mess.

Dirt kicked up next to Gary as the sound of a bullet rang through the air. "Shit!" Dogmeat barked again, louder this time, and ran off. Gary quickly followed the dog's path with his eyes, and he didn't like what he saw.

Some kind of monster, standing well over seven, eight feet tall, was running towards Dogmeat. Its skin was a yellowish-green and appeared to be tough as leather. Its mouth was pulled back in a mask of anger, exposing yellowed teeth. The garb it was wearing was from various car parts. It was carrying a wooden plank with nails sticking out at the end.

"What the… hell?" Gary said aloud. Was this a Super-Mutant? The things that the Sheriff had mentioned? Gary stopped analyzing the situation and raised his rifle and fired. The bullet tore through the Super-Mutant's eye socket, the bullet exploded out of the back of its head. The monstrosity dropped right in front of Dogmeat.

"Well they die like everything else don't they?" Gary thought aloud. He scanned the area for more enemies, two Super Mutants started running towards him and Dogmeat. These things all looked the same; there were only slight variations in their armor. One of the mutants had a rifle similar to Gary's and fired from the hip, missing Gary completely. Gary fired back at the mutant, aiming at the arm to make it drop the gun.

The bullet plunged into the monster's arm, blood leaked out but the mutants seemed otherwise unaffected. "Oh well that's just dandy." Gary shouted. He changed his aim for the head.

"Puny human!" The voice pierced Gary, it was full of rage. The voice was rough and coarse. Gary steadied the aim on the head.

Then to his surprise, it was blown off before he pulled the trigger.

A red laser sliced through the head of the first Super-Mutant, the top of the head slid off, exposing the brain as the monstrosity fell over. The second Super-Mutant was rained on by a storm of red lasers, tearing its body apart. It crashed next to its companion in a pool of its own blood.

Surprised, Gary removed his goggles and got a closer look at the bodies. He definitely wasn't imagining it. He grabbed the rifle from the mutant and ejected the clip, taking the bullets for himself. Dogmeat ran up to Gary and motioned in the direction of the source of the lasers. Gary looked to his left; there was a small congregation of people in metal armor.

"Well they haven't killed us so I guess they're friendly." Gary said to Dogmeat. The dog panted aloud, they seemed safe enough to him. Gary walked towards them, after crossing a several wooden planks, he got to the group.

"May be a tourist." One of the armored men said to another, which caused some snickers. Gary ignored the comment.

"Uh… thanks for the help?" Gary didn't know what to say to these people. One of armored soldiers walked toward him. Gary felt like whistling but he didn't want to offend anyone. It was a woman, surprisingly beautiful despite the dirt on her face. Her blond hair was pulled back, practicality Gary assumed. He couldn't really learn much else about her because of the bulky armor that she was wearing. Their eyes met, and then she spoke.

"Look I don't know who you are but you don't belong here. The Super Mutants have overrun Galaxy New Radio, and we're headed there right now to retake the position. You can tag along if you want. But keep your head down and try not to do anything… stupid."

"No guarantees ma'am." Gary smiled. "But listen, thanks for the assist, I had no idea this place was so dangerous."

"You been living under a rock? This is D.C. The entire city is crawling with Super Mutants."

"Well you're not completely wrong with the whole rock thing." Gary joked. "The name is Gary North, I'm from Vault 101. Who did you say you were Miss…?" He extended a hand, which she coldly rejected.

"Sentinel Sarah Lyons of the elite Lyons' Pride."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is up with the flashy armor?" Sarah Lyons shot Gary an odd look with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't know? Wow... you really are from a Vault. We're a part of the Brotherhood of Steel. Listen I would love to answer your questions all day but we really have to get going."

Sensing her impatience, Gary asked no more. "Lead the way." As Sarah started jogging away, Gary noticed a Brotherhood member randomly firing their gun.

"Reddin, on me." Someone grumbled. The solider stopped what they were doing and followed close behind the Brotherhood man that talked. Gary shook his head, these people were elite?

Gary continued to walk, he noticed a dead Brotherhood of Steel member on the floor, his helmet placed at his feet. It appeared the armor didn't save them from everything.

"What's the situation?" Sarah asked. A man stood up and looked towards Sarah.

"All clear Sentinel. Five Mutants released from their torment. The rest are keeping their heads down." Sarah nodded in response and went to go talk to who Gary presumed was Reddin. The man who had just spoken turned to Gary, intrigued at the new companion.

"Welcome! I am Knight Captain Colvin!" The man was warm, which is more then could be said of the other members of the Brotherhood. Gary extended his hand and shook the Knight Captain's.

"I'm Gary North; I've come here looking for my father."

"That is dedication my friend, coming into the Super Mutant infested D.C. in search of a family member. I wish that all had the determination that you did." Colvin took off his helmet and exposed his face; he appeared to be around 40 with blond hair and a blond goatee.

"Hey… um… no offense or anything… but how come everyone seems to… dislike me?" Gary had to ask, it seemed odd how people were around him.

"I apologize Mr. North, my Brothers may be gruff, but they will lay down their lives for you."

Before Gary could respond, Sarah walked in front of them and started addressing her squad. "Listen up; Galaxy News is directly through that building. I don't want to lose any of you, so stay on your toes."

"Yes ma'am!" The soldiers put on their helmets and charged in, guns blazing. Gary felt the adrenaline kick in as he charged in behind the rest of the Brotherhood members. He fired his hunting rifle at a horde of Super Mutants huddled in front a doorway.

"One in the window!" Someone shouted. Gary looked up and saw a Super Mutant loading an assault rifle. It quickly started firing upon the Brotherhood, causing them to take cover around pieces of rubble.

"I got him!" Gary shouted in response. He fired two rounds into the mutant's head. The mutant shouted and grabbed its face as it fell out the window. Gary quickly reloaded his rifle, ejecting the clip and slamming in a new one. He placed the gun on his back and withdrew his shotgun.

With the doorway now clear, Gary was the first to run in the building. Well he was first when counting humans, Dogmeat had already run inside the building. Gary heard the dog's growls from the left. He headed through the doorway; Dogmeat had his jaw locked on a mutant's forearm.

"Stupid dog!" roared the Super Mutant. It waved its arm in the air attempting to remove the dog. Gary ran up to the mutant and blasted it in the kneecap, causing it to fall over. Dogmeat let go of its arm and jumped onto the Super Mutant's chest. Dogmeat dug its teeth into the neck of the mutie, ripping out the jugular.

"Nice job boy." Gary commented as he ran ahead to clear out the rest of the building. He proceeded up a staircase; a lone Super Mutant was firing towards the rest of the Brotherhood. With the element of surprise, Gary fire one bullet into its head, causing it to drop to the ground with a loud thud.

"Good shot." Colvin ran up along side Gary towards a set of windows. Gary followed close behind, rifle at the ready. The windows gave an excellent vantage point. The Super Mutants on the ground were firing at the Brotherhood members down below, not above. Colvin and Gary made a good team and dispatched the mutants with no problem.

Gary took a deep breath as he examined the remnants of the battlefield, there appeared to be no casualties on their side. He walked downstairs with Dogmeat, still soaking in what just happened. He looked at the area; the Galaxy News Radio station was fairly large. There was a circular fountain in front of the stairs leading to the building. To the left was a pile up of broken vehicles, made into some form of barricade.

"Reddin, make sure the perimeter is secure." Reddin obeyed her superior and proceeded to walk along a line of broken down buses. She fired several victory shots in the air before reloading her assault rifle.

Gary walked up to Sarah Lyons. "Is it safe to head in now? I have to talk to Three Dog, he's the DJ right?"

"Yea it should be safe to…" She stopped mid-sentence and titled her head, as if to listen. Gary strained to hear what she did, but heard nothing. Lyons loaded her laser rifle and waited. Gary's ears perked up when he heard a bang; it had to be a large collision because it seemed loud yet distant. Another one, then another, really close.

"SHIT! Behemoth! Reddin get outta there!"

The buses that Reddin had once stood near exploded, the shockwave sending Gary and Sarah to the ground. Gary rolled over onto his back, staring at the flames and smoke. A giant creature exited the inferno. There was only one word to describe such a creature, a behemoth.

It stood taller then any Super Mutant, its height was well over the size of a two story building. It wielded a car door as a shield on its left arm and a giant fire hydrant as a club. On its back was a shopping cart, some kind of backpack for what looked like human corpses. Its leathery skin was pulled tight by muscle and veins.

The face is something that Gary would never forget. The eyes were pure white from rage. Its teeth were exposed like other mutants, but these thick choppers were covered in blood. A horrible snarling came from deep within the Behemoth's throat. A roar then made Gary's ears ring.

Gary's heart felt as if it was about to burst, fear gripped him, the fear of death. Cold sweat dripped down his neck. He turned to Sarah, who was writhing in pain; he realized that a shard of metal from a bus tore through her hip.

"I'm not dying, not here, not now." Gary said aloud. "I'm getting you out of here." Before Sarah could argue, Gary cradled Sarah in his arms and started to run towards the building that he had recently exited. He watched at the mutant jumped on top of a wounded Reddin, a mess of blood and gore was all the remained under its boots.

Several Brotherhood members started firing their laser weapons at the Behemoth. Even though they previously tore through the other mutants, they appeared to do almost nothing to this one. Gary leaned Sarah up against a wall, they were deep inside the building, yet the battle was still visible.

"I need to get back out there." Sarah muttered.

"You're not going anywhere." Gary responded. He saw a member of the BoS raise what looked like some kind of rocket launcher, only to be crushed by the fire hydrant the Behemoth was wielding.

"I need to help my men." She urged on, trying to push Gary away, but he kept his grip tight on her shoulders.

"You getting yourself killed isn't going to help anyone! Now is there anyway to kill that thing?" Gary figured that his bullets weren't going to do much against something that size.

"Grab the Fat Man."

Gary raised an eyebrow at the odd command, "Excuse me?"

"The Fat Man. It looks like a missile launcher and a catapult." Gary looked up at the warzone; the dead man who was crushed by the hydrant was bent over a fountain, the Fat Man at his feet.

"OK, wish me luck." Gary stood up and motioned for Dogmeat to stay near Lyons. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, Gary ran out of the building and went directly to the fountain. The gun appeared to be already loaded with what appeared to be a miniature nuclear bomb about the size of a football. The weapon was heavy, but Gary lugged it onto his shoulder.

And then his body exploded with pain.

Gary went soaring through the air and smacked into a car with the full force of what he was hit with. He changed his view; the Behemoth had smacked him with its car door. He felt as if several ribs had been broken, and his leg felt as if it was on fire. Gary was actually surprised he was alive right now.

The Behemoth picked up another Brotherhood member and pulled him in half like a doll. The internal organs slopped to the ground in a bloody mess, causing Gary to shutter. The Behemoth then seemed to realize that his prey wasn't killed on the first strike, and it turned its attention back to Gary.

Gary pulled the Fat Man onto his shoulder, which hurt like hell. The Behemoth was almost upon him, but it started reel back, as if being hit by something. Gary couldn't hear much because his ears were ringing, and there were no lasers being fired, so he had no idea where the assault was coming form. Blood started pouring out of the creature, it was being shot, but Gary had no idea by whom.

And frankly he didn't give a damn.

He raised the Fat Man and fired. The miniature nuke was catapulted through the air and it made a direct hit on the Behemoth's chest. The very bowels of hell seemed to open up in front of Gary; he felt his facial hair sizzle on his face as the heat overcame his body. The mini nuke gave off a light that blinded Gary; he dropped the Fat Man and covered his eyes.

All was silent, yet Gary's ears still pounded. He slowly lowered his arms and examined the area. Any remaining Brotherhood members were on the ground, thrown from the explosion. The Behemoth was miraculously not vaporized. Its head was ripped in two and all the limbs were gone. There was a faint red mist in the air hanging above the battlefield.

"I love this thing; it's my new best friend." Gary rolled over and hugged the Fat Man, it just saved his and everyone else's lives. All of a sudden, Gary felt warm liquid run up his throat. He leaned over and spit up blood onto the dirt. Wiping his mouth, Gary couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't believe he just survived what he did.

"Hey? Hey, kid? You alright?" A Brotherhood of Steel member ran to Gary's side.

"Yea I'm…" His vision began to swim and he felt lightheaded. His eyelids got heavy, and then he passed out.

* * *

><p>"I've had enough of this, I didn't leave Megaton just to be fuckin' cooped up in some ritzy tower!" Jericho lit up another cigarette and took a long drag.<p>

"Settle down there buddy boy, we'll do something sooner or later. You need a break once in a while, ya know?" Oliver responded. He lifted up a bottle of whiskey and titled his head back, downing it in one sitting.

The two men were sitting in the room they obtained from Mr. Burke. It was a mess to say the least, covered in empty liquor bottles and cigarette butts. Jericho removed his knife and examined it, flipping it around in his hands.

Oliver got up from his chair and walked to a table with his weapons. He checked his assault rifle, he had a dozen clips and it was in prime condition. He had traded in his 10mm pistol and laser pistol for a scoped .44 magnum. He also bought a new laser rifle and a pair of spiked brass knuckles from a trading caravan that had passed by Tenpenny Tower. He still had a sword that he kept on his hip.

Oliver walked to the one mirror that was in his room. He looked at his face, scar tissue had started to form over the knife wound on his face, and it was a deep gash. Oliver clenched his fists and punched the wall. "I will get you brother." He muttered.

A knock came from the door, Oliver and Jericho turned their heads. "Mr. North!" A voice called from the other side. Oliver walked over to the door and opened it. A guard was standing in front of the door, he appeared nervous.

"What?" Oliver's breath smelt of booze and it was apparent that the guard had smelt it because he shook his head.

"Mr. Burke needs to speak with you sir."

"Tell Burke to shove it, I'm on a vacation." Jericho sneered at Oliver's response.

"He says that he has a job for you."

"C'mon Ollie, lets have some fun eh?" Jericho called from the back of the room.

"How about you both shut the hell up huh?" Oliver shot back. He turned to the guard. "You're still here?"

"He said it needs to be done."

"Oh yea? And whats in it for me?"

"Information on your brother." Oliver's eyes went wide, this was sooner then expected. He needed this info, he needed to find Gary.

"Tell him to give us a minute." Oliver closed the door in the guards face and he marched to his weapons table. "Suit up, Jericho. We got some hunting to do." Jericho jumped up and howled in excitement.

"Bout time I get to shoot some shit, I've been bored as fuck in here."

Oliver ignored the ex-raider's comment. As he equipped his weapons, all he could think about was taking out his brother. Seeing him die by his hands.

Oliver smiled at the thought.


	6. Happiness is a Warm Gun

**Chapter 6- Happiness is a Warm Gun**

_Do not repay evil with evil_

* * *

><p>"Jabsco I'm telling you I don't need reinforcements."<p>

"Constantine, you failed me once and I'm not going to have him slip out of your hands again. The new squad will meet you in DC" Jabsco's voice was grainy over the radio, but still audible. Constantine looked up at the night sky.

"Constantine are you ignoring me?" The stars were bright this evening, it was calming.

"Constantine!"

"I'll continue my trek, I know where North is, and I'll meet up with your reinforcements when the time comes. Constantine out." Constantine threw his radio in the bag and sighed.

He took off his rosary and stared at it. "God please guide me; confirm that what I am doing is right." He kissed the cross and placed it back around his neck.

"Father, forgive me for what I have done and what I will do."

* * *

><p>Talking, it was hard to make out, but there was defiantly talking. Gary kept his eyes shut, he didn't exactly know where he was, and he was making a habit of waking up in random places. Gary heard footsteps, they were heavy.<p>

"Deal me in." It was a male's voice, Gary was just glad he could make it out.

"How about all that shit today man? Unbelievable, a Behemoth? I don't get paid enough to deal with that kind stuff."

"Just be happy you're alive right now, we would all be dead if that kid didn't grab the Fat Man."

"I don't know who he is, but he's got balls."

"Colvin said he's some kid from a Vault, could you believe that?" Gary figured that he was with the Brotherhood, so things were safe enough. He opened up his eyes and started to sit up, but stopped himself. He was on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. He rolled over on his side to look at the room. There were three Brotherhood members sitting around a table with playing cards.

One of the BoS members leaned over on his chair when he heard Gary stirring" Well speak of the devil! How you feelin there kid?"

"Like crap." Gary muttered, the pain was tolerable but still very present.

"As expected, if you weren't we'd think _you're _some kind of Super Mutant." Joked one of the men. Gary cracked a smile, and even that hurt. "Besides, you could have been worse if we didn't pump your system full of stimpacks and med-x."

"Hey where are we? Galaxy News?" Gary threw his legs out over the bed and placed them on the ground.

"Yessir."

"In which case I have to talk to Three Dog." Gary went to stand up, only to be forced down by one of the men.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm no doctor, but you really need some rest."

"But this is urgent, I need to talk to him, he has information on my dad."

"Well if you can't go to Three Dog, then Three Dog will go to you." Everyone looked up, the voice was smooth and Gary immediately recognized it.

"You're Three Dog." Gary said.

"My reputation precedes me." Three Dog took a bow. He was black, and most of his face was covered. He was wearing a bandana around his head, similar to Gary, and had large sunglasses. A well kept goatee covered his mouth. He had on a large leather vest over a white shirt.

"I am Three Dog—jockey of discs and teller of truths. Lord and master over the finest radio station to grace the Wastes—Galaxy News Radio." Gary looked at the soldiers rolling their eyes.

"Is this guy for real?" Gary thought to himself.

"And you are Gary North. I heard about you leavin' the Vault, travelin' the unknown. Just like dear old Dad, hmm? Met him already…"

Gary practically jumped from his bed. "Then you know where he is? Please you have to tell me, I've been killing everything just to find him."

"Boys we'll continue this game later." Announced one of the Brotherhood members. The three stood up and walked out the door. Three Dog and Gary held off the conversation until they left.

"I know where he went, cuz he sure ain't here anymore. He heard ole Three Dog on the radio, figured I knew what was what out here in the crazy Capital Wasteland. And he was right. I filled your old man in, and then he split. Looks like I've got my way of contributing to the Good Fight… and he's got his own."

Gary scratched his beard for a moment. "You lost me, what is the Good Fight?"

"So imagine a picture, okay? A picture of the Capital Wasteland. All that brick and rock. A whole lot of nothing, right?" Gary nodded in agreement. "There are people out there trying to just barely make it by from day to day. Fighting to stay alive and make something of what they've got."

Three Dog started pacing in the room, waving his hands for emphasis. "But then you've got all kinds of shit… Slavers, Super Mutants, Raiders… They all want a slice of the pie too and aim to take it by force.

"So you fight back. The way you fight however is with your voice."

"Damn" Three Dog laughed. "Daaamn. You're quite the witty one; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You're just as smart as your dad!" Gary smiled and allowed Three Dog to carry on. "Exactly. Well since you know all about the cause, no need to explain the effect. Let's get you on your way. You want to know more about you're dad?'

"More then anything."

"Then you my friend, you are going to have to contribute to the Good Fight."

"Lay it on me then, what do I have to do."

"I'm glad you're ready, 'cause this isn't going to be easy." He took a deep a breath, Gary could only imagine what was about to come out of his mouth. "Galaxy News Radio is my baby. I love it, I feed it, I keep it changed. But there's one problem, no one outside D.C. can hear her cry."

"You see, some brainless Super Mutant though it would be funny to shoot at the shiny round thing on the Washington Monument."

"Ah jeez I see where this is going."

"Yep. That shiny thing was our broadcast relay. Now it's Swiss cheese. Without it, our broadcast range is quite limited. And _of course_ the factory that made the relay dishes is log gone. Leveled in fact. As in, we're never gonna scavenge that part again."

"Super Mutants? Blowing crap up? I think I like the sound of it." Gary stood up, using the bed for support. "This seems a bit risky though."

Three Dog walked over to Gary and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Listen, it _is_ risky. I would never lie to you. But there's something behind those eyes of yours that screams 'I'm the one that can get shit done!'"

"You know me too well Three Dog." Gary cracked a smile, the two shared a chuckle.

"You know, your dad had that same exact look in his eyes too. That's why Three Dog is helping ya."

"What do you need me to do then?"

"Okay, so one of the Brotherhood guys that passed through here mentioned seeing a dish in one of D.C.'s old museums. It's the dish off the old Virgo II Lunar Lander in the Museum of Technology. I want you to get that thing and bring it to the Washington Monument to replace the bad one. That's it."

"Three Dog my man." Gary extended a hand. "You've got yourself a deal." Three Dog gave Gary some insane handshake that made Gary stop for a second.

"He he! I sure know how to pick 'em! You're going to be the best thing that ever happened to Galaxy News in a long time. A long time! I'm going to be tellin' stories about you to the whole Wasteland! If you need any more info, I'll be up stairs in the studio."

"I'll head right out." Gary walked to an open locker with his equipment.

"What, you're not staying for a game?" The Brotherhood soldiers entered the room as Three Dog exited. One of them held up the deck of cards, as if motioning to Gary to join them.

"Besides, it's like 11 at night; you may get eaten by something out in the darkness. And you'll need some rest eventually." Added in another man with the cards.

The remaining soldier jabbed a finger in the card holder's direction. "He has a point. Live a little."

"Well…" Gary stopped; he has been all go go go and had no time for some fun since he got here. "Yea sure why not. Deal me in."

* * *

><p>"Ah Mr. North, I'm glad you could find time in your busy day to come talk with me." Mr. Burke had resumed his casual, suave demeanor since they had arrived at Tenpenny Tower.<p>

"Oliver! Such a pleasure for you to stop by!" Alistair Tenpenny stated, raising his hands from his plush chair. Mr. Alistair Tenpenny was the owner of Tenpenny Tower. He was an oblivious old man as far as Oliver was concerned. He could tell that Tenpenny was simply a shield for Burke to hide behind because he obviously had all the brains.

The men were outside on the balcony of the penthouse suite of Tenpenny Tower. Oliver had never actually seen Tenpenny leave this area.

"Yes of course. I hear you have information on my brother." Oliver bluntly stated.

"Mr. North, there is no need to rush. I have a job for you to complete, a trivial task really."

"Well spit it out so we could kill somethin'," Jericho had made his presence known for the first time. Mr. Burke sighed; he removed his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes.

"So be it. We have a problem. Two citizens of Tenpenny Tower had run off together. Ms. Susan Lancaster and Mr. Edgar Wellington II have appeared to have carried their fling to the next level. You see, Mr. Wellington is married to Mrs. Millicent Wellington. The two have always had… a certain… uneasiness in their marriage. Well Millicent found out what is happening between Susan and Edgar and she nearly killed the two of them. They had escaped to the Capital Wasteland."

Oliver simply stared at Burke. "Why the fuck do you all give a flying fuck about this fuckin' fling? They were bangin each other, so what?"

"You don't realize that Susan Lancaster is Tenpenny Tower's… residential courtesan."

"She's a whore? Damn shoulda jumped on that one kid." Jericho added in.

"Okay carry on." Oliver waved his hand.

"Mr. Tenpenny here had a previous… woman who had escaped. Since Susan Lancaster had arrived she had graced Mr. Tenpenny with her presence everyday to… spend time with him."

"She was thrilling ol' sport, positively thrilling. She made me feel young again." Alistair Tenpenny jumped from his seat and waved his fists in the air. Oliver couldn't help but laugh.

"I had no idea you had it in you Al!" Oliver applauded the old man.

"So as you could see, she is very important to Mr. Tenpenny and I want you to get her back."

"And where are we to start this mighty quest for the holy whore?" Oliver joked.

"The two were seen heading east. They couldn't have gotten farther then the Potomac. Keep in mind, these two are not humans made to rough the wastes. Check populated areas. Andale would be the smartest place to start." Burke walked over to Oliver and imputed the location on his Pip-boy.

"Do we have to bring back both of them?" Jericho inquired.

"Ms. Lancaster is the only one that is necessary."

Jericho couldn't help but smile. "Then in that case, we'll make it easy on us and kill 'im."

"No arguments there." Oliver put in. He turned to Tenpenny and took a bow. "Mr. Tenpenny we will get your woman and you could bang her brains out as soon as we get back." And with that, Jericho and Oliver left the Tenpenny suite. As the men went down the elevator they made their plan.

"We're just gonna kill what ever gets in our way, right?" Jericho asked.

"Hell yea."

"Fuck yes."

The two men left Tenpenny Towers, going past the reception desk and guards and out the gate. The two walked straight east in silence, the rocks crunching under their boots.

"Pass me a cig will ya?" Oliver poked Jericho with his finger.

"I go through these things in half the time when you're fuckin' takin' them all from me!"

"I bought the last couple packs from the store! Don't act like I'm not pitchin' in!" Oliver shot back.

"Well get yourself a lighter or matches or something and start carryin around your own cigs! This is the last one, ya hear me?"

"Yea yea yea." Oliver accepted the cancer stick and leaned in so Jericho could light it up. He looked up as he walked and puffed out the smoke. "So Jericho, you never told me about your past. Care to enlighten me now?"

"Why the fuck do you care, kid?" Just as Jericho said that he went into a fit of coughs.

"You know about me! And besides, it'll pass the time." Jericho simply looked at Oliver and shook his head.

"You're a persistent bastard you know that right?"

"So I've been told."

"Well I was born, I had a ma, a dad, a younger sister, and an older brother. One day I left and became a raider. I killed some people, I stole some things, and I fucked some chicks. Then I retired when I got old and settled down in Megaton."

"Damn talk about the abridged version. How about a bit more detailed?"

"Save it for another time, kid." Oliver threw up his hands in the air.

"I give, fine." They continued the rest of their trek without a word until they came upon the location on Oliver's Pip-boy.

"Well here we are, ain't it a beaut?" Oliver questioned. Andale was composed of three intact houses, the rest were reduced to scrap. There was some kind of rocket sculpture in the distance. Telephone lines were down, crashed in the streets.

Jericho whistled and then coughed. "It sure is something else."

Oliver walked in the middle of the street, there was one house staring at another on each side. "Why hellllloooooo Andale!" Gary shouted. He turned to Jericho, "That should get their attention, or else we're going to have to start shootin randomly."

"I hope they don't answer." Jericho shot back, a grin adorning his face. The door opened on the house to the right. A man wearing a sweater exited the house.

"Well, hi there! Welcome to Andale! I'm Willy Wilson, though folks just call me Bill. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"As a matter of fact there is. Me and my comrade are looking for a couple who has recently passed this way. A man and woman wearing fancy clothes?"

Bill scratched his chin and looked up at the sky, "I'm sorry, no one like that has passed by that I know of. But you know what! Maybe my wife has seen them, she is quite the talker, and may have seen them pass by!"

"Thanks, so tell me, what do you do around here?" Oliver figured he'd play nice to begin with.

"Well I feed my family and I love my wife and daughter, what else more is there to life, stranger?" Bill didn't allow Gary to continue though. "Family first! And any man who says anything different is saying something wrong. And you should hit that man. With a stick."

"My thoughts exactly. Tell me about your little town."

"Why, it's a place to settle down and raise a family. Of course, we don't just let anyone in here. The home owners association is very clear on that. Besides, there's no room! As amazing as Andale is, is it any wonder that all the houses would be full of happy families?"

"Oh yes all three of them." Jericho sarcastically replied.

"Well," Oliver butted in, "thanks for the info, we'll look around a bit before leaving."

"Oh won't you stay for dinner?" Oliver looked at Bill, that was strange to ask, seeing as the day at just started, but he ignored it.

"We'll see." And the two walked away.

"Creeped me the fuck out." Jericho started as they were out of ear shot. "He was way too happy."

"Yea, somethin' weird is goin on here." Oliver replied. The men headed to the lone single level floor in the town and opened the door.

"Yo anyone here?" Oliver called out.

"Wha-what?" There was someone here. The two men followed the voice and found an old man sitting on a chair. "How did you two get in here?"

"We walked in the fuckin' front door, it was open." Jericho said.

The old man carried on his rant. "What are you doing in this town? Get out! Get out while you can!"

"Slow down there gramps before I slow you down." Oliver said, inching toward the magnum on his waist. "What the hell is goin on here?"

"What's going on? You don't see anything wrong with a quiet little town full of friendly people in the middle of a blasted wasteland?"

"It sets off a lot of flags in my head yea." Oliver replied as he leaned up against the wall. "What's wrong with them bein friendly?"

"Everything! It's all a trick. Don't you know anything? Did you just crawl out of a vault or something?"

"Christ how does everyone know?" Oliver asked with a grin.

"You are pretty fuckin' clueless. I've never been here but I knew this place was fucked up before hand." Jericho snorted.

"Exactly! Just about everyone in the wasteland knows to avoid Andale, and they're right to do it. People wander in here, and they don't wander back out."

"Well I'll be careful then gramps."

"You should! Otherwise, you'll end up just like the rest!" Oliver couldn't help but laugh, this seemed like something from a pre-war horror flick. "What? You don't believe me? Just look in the basements! Or out in that shed! You'll see what I mean!"

"Well I'll take that advice and head out then." Oliver and Jericho walked outside. There were two children playing outside now. "Let's talk to 'em." Oliver stated.

"Hello!" Called one of the kids, a young boy with a red ball cap on. "You're new here, aren't you? Wow! I never get a chance to talk to the new people! Dad always takes care of them before I get a chance."

"What do your parents do here, kid?"

"The same thing that all parents do! My mom cooks and cleans the house and my dad goes to work with Mr. Wilson. "They work in the basement, or sometimes in Mr. Wilson's shed. Dad says that when I'm older, I'll come to work with him and learn the family business!"

"Is that so, bud? Think you could introduce me to your parents?"

"Of course, they always love meeting new people! In fact, we just had new people come by recently." That tipped Oliver off.

"Is that so? What were these people like?"

"It was a nice husband and wife, but they left so quickly." Jericho and Oliver exchanged looks. The boy entered his house, Oliver and Jericho followed close behind. "Hey mom! Dad! There are new people here!"

A woman walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel. "Oh yes, Bill told us that new visitors had arrived. Please take a seat in the kitchen and I could whip up some food for you!" The woman then turned to her son. "Go outside and play, Junior"

As the boy exited the house, the two men were led to the kitchen. "So what can the Smith family do for you?"

"We're just weary travelers passing through."

"Well you came to the right place! I could get you some food right now."

"That would be lovely." Oliver and Jericho took seats at the kitchen table. There was a door to the left of the kitchen; leading to what they presumed was a basement. The two men exchanged glances; they needed to get in there. While waiting around, Oliver watched as Mrs. Smith bent over the stove, he started feeling that urge as he watched her ass, the same urge he got with that whore Silver. Jericho looked over at Oliver, he recognized the look on his face, and he had felt that urge himself.

Jericho leaned over the table to Oliver, "Don't start that shit here…" but Oliver waved him off.

As Mrs. Smith passed by Oliver, he grabbed her hand. "Tell me Mrs. Smith, where is Mr. Smith?"

"Why, he's working with Bill Wilson in his shed."

"Tell me Mrs. Smith, does your husband treat you well?"

"Of course he does, as good as any husband should."

"Does he treat you well in bed?"

"Yo Oliver…" Jericho started; he knew where this was headed.

"Why that is information that is between a husband and wife, I'm sure you know that."

"Yes but," Oliver ran his hand down her body, stopping to grab her behind. "I believe you could, and _should_ be treated much, _much_ better."

"Why I… I guess I don't receive as much attention as I should from Jack…" Oliver stood up and caressed her body; bring his free hand to grab her breast.

"How about… we go upstairs and I give you the attention you deserve, hm?" Mrs. Smith giggled and started leading Oliver out of the kitchen but Jericho grabbed him by the shoulder.

"I'll meet you upstairs." She whispered in Oliver's ear. As she left Jericho turned Oliver around.

"You have some kind of fuckin' gift, or a curse. I don't need you going AWOL with women everything fuckin' time we go somewhere, so control yourself! Listen, the basement is right there, let's break down the door and see what's in there. And then get the fuck out. Alright?"

"One step ahead of you." Oliver said with a smile, he held up a small gold key. "She kept it in her dress."

"You sly bastard," Jericho couldn't help but smile. "Let's check this shit out." The two men walked to the door and opened it with the key. Oliver took out his magnum and cautiously walked down the stairs.

The smell of death filled Oliver's nostrils. "You never forget that smell." Jericho groaned. When they got to the floor Oliver stopped in his tracks.

"What the… fuckin' hell?" His mouth was ajar. The room, the basement, it was some kind of torture chamber. There were three long tables, two in the middle of the room and one alongside the wall. Each of these tables were stained in red and adorned with corpses. To the right was a corpse that was held upside-down by the legs. It was a woman, her and chest was opened, the internal organs had all been removed.

"That's her." Oliver muttered. He recognized Susan Lancaster; he had passed by her once or twice in the halls of Tenpenny Tower.

"This is some fucked up shit." Jericho muttered. "And this is coming from a guy who's seen the shit that I have."

"H-hey! He-help me please." A faint voice came from the darkened corner of the room. Oliver walked towards the voice. There was a large metal cage and inside was a man. He was sitting inside the cage naked; his knees were curled up to his chest.

"Are you Edgar Wellington?" Oliver questioned.

"Yes, Edgar Wellington the Second. Please get me out of here. I'll repay you handsomely once we get back to Tenpenny Tower."

"What the fuck is going on here?" Jericho asked, every so often he would look back to the door, expecting someone to rush downstairs.

"These animals! They're eating people! They brought me and my sweet Susan down here and tied her up. They cut her open while she was still alive! They ate here organs in front of her own eyes!" Edgar put his hands to his eyes and sobbed heavily.

"This is disgusting." Oliver mumbled, the smell was starting to get to him.

"You'll get me out of here, right?" Edgar asked between sobs. Oliver looked at his magnum, fully loaded.

"We came here for Susan, not you. Tenpenny has no need for you and you'd just be a hassle to take back." Before Edgar could protest, Oliver lifted his magnum to the man's head and pulled the trigger. Wellington's head exploded onto the wall behind him, caking the wall in brain matter. Specks of blood got on to Oliver's armor, which he simply wiped off.

"Let's take care of these bastards." Jericho said; his finger gripped the trigger on his assault rifle. Oliver put away his magnum and took out his laser rifle. The two men walked up the stairs and out the front door of the Smith household.

The citizens of Andale, all four of them, had congregated in front of the house. A bald man led the group, a sawed off shotgun in hand. "Hey, stranger there's something I need to talk to you about. My wife said that you were poking around in our basement. Did you find everything you were looking for?"

"You sick bastard I found all I needed." Oliver's grip on his rifle tightened.

"I'm disappointed in you stranger—so quick to judge us. Did you ever stop to think that I have a family to support? _Judge no, lest ye be judged_ as the good book says. Honestly how many people have you killed? The only difference between us is that I'm bringing the bacon for my family."

"Bacon? Bacon? You sick fuck! These are people, not bacon!"

"I won't have that language in this house, you hear? There is nothing wrong with the way we live we've been doing it for decades!"

"Nothing wrong?" Oliver shook his head. "Nothing wrong?" He turned to Jericho, who caught the look in his eye. "You asked how many people I've killed? Let's add four more to that list shall we?"

Mr. Smith was dead before he hit the ground. Oliver's laser sliced clean through his head, causing it to be turned into nothing but dust. Jericho opened fire on the remaining citizens of Andale. They were ill-equipped with pistols and knifes, they stood no chance.

"Well that was fun." Jericho quipped.

"I'd say so." Oliver wiped off the blood on him on Mrs. Smith's dress. "Let's pay a visit to gramps."

The two men entered the old man's house, Oliver had his magnum out. The old man was at the front door waiting. "I saw what happened out there, stranger. Those people may have been my family but… it had to be done. I was like them for so many years… it's…I can't even talk about it. The only thing that I can do is try to raise these kids and make Andale a decent place."

"You did this for years before hand?" Oliver questioned.

"Yes, I try not to think about it."

Oliver raised his magnum to the man's head. "Then as far as I'm concerned you're just as sick as they were. He only had to pull the trigger once. When the bullet went off Oliver heard a yelp from the other room. Magnum still out, he and Jericho walked in the room. The two children seen playing earlier were huddled in the corner weeping.

"Please Mr…. Don't hurt us."

"I promise to make it quick." He extended the magnum a final time.

* * *

><p>The morning had come quickly; Gary had planned to slip out of the barracks as silently as possible. He placed his leather protection on his Vault jumpsuit and gathered his belongings without being noticed. Dogmeat sat at his feet, also silent.<p>

Last night was quite the time, Gary had stayed up playing cards with some of the Brotherhood members, and they weren't as cold as they had once been. He won a substantial amount caps that would keep him situated for a decent amount of time. He had told his story so far, most of the Brotherhood guys had listened in, and even Three Dog himself came down to listen.

As Gary walked to the front door the guards nodded to him, he returned it and walked outside.

"Where are you going?" it was Sarah Lyons. Gary turned to her, she was out of her armor, and her upper leg was wrapped in bandages. She was sitting on a chair, her leg extended and her arms folded.

"Three Dog has a small errand for me to run." Gary replied. He maintained eye contact with her; he didn't want to examine her up and down with her talking to him.

"A small errand? You call going into the Super mutant infested D.C. a small errand?" she cracked a smile as she said this. Gary noticed her tough, cold exterior seemed to be broken. Her smile was natural; Gary thought she was rather pretty. "I heard the little conversation, Three Dog isn't exactly subtle."

Gary shrugged, "Ha, well you guys do it everyday, so I figure I shouldnt make a big deal out of it."

"You really are something you know that, right?" Sarah questioned. She unfolded her arms and stood up, using the chair for support. Gary went to help her but she waved him off. "Listen this isn't easy for me to say, I don't like being the damsel in distress. But... Thank you." she looked at the ground and scratched the back of her head.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It was a freak accident. Ya know it could have been me that was hit, and then you would have had to carry me while I'd be blubbering like a baby." Gary joked.

Sarah cracked a smile but still kept her face to the floor. Gary extended an arm and placed his hand on her arm. "Listen, I understand that since you're a leader you feel that you have to be strong for your men, but you're human and they understand that. You could only do so much, ya know?"

Sarah looked up, staring him in the eyes, "You should be my psychologist," Sarah jabbed at Gary.

"I was a doctor, not a psychologist, I'm sorry." Gary and Sarah smiled. He started walking down the stairs, yet still was looking at Sarah.

"I'll be back eventually, so don't worry about me."

"I'll be leaving with my squad today; we can't sit around and wait while Super Mutants are still causing havoc."

"Well... I hope to see you around then." Gary replied, breaking off eye contact.

"Yea." Gary nodded to Sarah and motioned to Dogmeat to follow.

As they walked down the stairs Gary spoke up. "Well that was awkward." Gary mumbled, Dogmeat barked in response.

"Gary!" Sarah called out, Gary turned around. "Be careful out there, alright?"

Gary smiled and nodded his head. "No guarantees ma'am, but I'll try my best." And with that, Gary and Dogmeat left GNR.

Three Dog was watching the two leave from his studio on the top floor. He lit up a cigarette and puffed out smoke, "They don't make 'em like him anymore." He thought aloud.

The DJ walked back to his broadcasting equipment, the song was just about to end. He picked up his headphones and pulled up a chair to the microphone.

"Hellooooooo Capital Wasteland, this is Three Dog, bow wow wow. I'm here to talk to you about a cool cat, I'm sure you know him. He's been causing a bit of a stir in the Capital Wasteland, taking out raiders and disarming nukes if you could believe it! I'm talking of course, about the Lone Wanderer..."

"That was one of the most obnoxious things I've ever had to do… ever." Gary and Dogmeat had just exited a subway tunnel that led to the Mall, the center of Washington D.C. The tunnel was filled with Super Mutants, ghouls, and raiders. A triple threat.

"Boy, if you weren't around, I'd probably be dead right now." Gary kneeled down and started to pet the dog. Dogmeat rolled over on his stomach and Gary continued to pet him. "You're a good dog, I hope you're fine going around with me, I bet you miss your master." Dogmeat went off into a fit of happy barks, Gary couldn't help but smile.

"Well that appears to be the museum," Gary thought aloud. He stood up and looked at it, from the outside it actually seemed to be in pretty good condition. "How about we…" Gary was stopped mid-sentence; two bullets caught him by surprise, one in the stomach and one in the chest.

Gary dropped to the ground, blood was pouring from his wounds. He was just happy it wasn't squirting because then it would have been something major. He saw five men dressed in black armor in the distance, three were approaching him. "Oh fuck," was all he managed to say. Gary started to crawl behind a bus waiting station to use for cover. As he was crawling another bullet caught him in the shin.

"Gah!" Gary groaned and sat himself up, pulling out his pistol and a grenade he had obtained form a Brotherhood member in the card game.

"Christ, get the dog!" One of the men shouted, Gary heard Dogmeat tearing at someone and an agonized scream. Gary leaned out of cover with his pistol, Dogmeat had torn through a man's face, and one of the attackers went to kick him. Gary fired off five rounds toward the man, catching him in the arm and head, killing him immediately.

"Dogmeat! Get outta there!" Gary shouted as he pulled the pin to the grenade. Dogmeat got off the man and ran toward his master. The uninjured attacker started firing his assault rifle at the dog, bits of concrete being picked up as the bullets hit the ground and missed their target.

"Suck on this bitches!" Gary shouted as he threw the grenade. He heard someone yell some profanity right before the grenade went off. After the explosion, Gary leaned out, the three men were dead. One man in the distance started firing what looked like a sniper rifle, narrowly missing Gary.

Gary got back behind cover and reloaded his pistol. "Crap crap crap." Dogmeat started growling, exposing his teeth. Before Gary could look to see what was wrong one of the attackers hit Dogmeat over the head with his assault rifle, knocking him out. Gary tried to move but was immediately pinned down, and an assault rifle was barred over his neck.

Gary's mind raced, where did he come from? How was he going to get out of here? Gary tried to move his pistol in the direction of the man, but the attacker pried the pistol free and threw it to the ground. The man had black armor with a white logo similar to everyone else's.

These were the people who attacked Gary with the caravan; the armor was exactly the same. "No one to save ya now buddy boy." Sneered the man. "And you can't run neither."

"Who the fuck are you people?" Gary demanded, he was losing breath quickly; the rifle was jammed into his jugular.

"Oh wanna know who killed ya? We're Talon Company bitch, and you pissed off some rich people to have them hire us."

"Burke…" Gary mumbled. He reached for his knife, the merc hadn't noticed. Gary brought up the blade and jabbed him in the kidneys several times.

"Fucker!" The man slammed Gary in the face with the butt of his assault rifle, causing him to fall into the middle of the street. Gary tried to crawl away, but the man was still agile even with his wound. The merc delivered a kick to Gary's stomach and then jumped on top of him. His eyes were wild; he was hopped up on Med-x, morphine.

"I'm gonna kill ya, I'm gonna kill ya and like it." The merc grabbed Gary's hand and started to push the knife to his chest. Gary grunted and exerted all his strength. The tip of the blade started getting close to his chest. "Die! Die! Die!"

The tip of the blade pierced the leather of the jumpsuit. Gary's chest felt the piercing pain of the knife as it started to plunge into his chest.

"No no no." Gary's mind raced, he was going to die. He survived a huge super mutant attack, and he was going to die by the hands of some chem filled merc.

A single bullet went off, the mercenary's head literally exploded. Gary's body was covered in blood; most of it not even his. He pulled out the blade and dropped it to the ground. He panted heavily, what had just happened?

"Are you alright?" The voice was smooth, almost comforting.

"What's… going on?' Gary's body was in excruciating pain; he slid off his backpack and reached for some stimpacks.

"Allow me, you'll be just fine." The man had come into view, and Gary's heart continued to race, it was a merc.

"Wha- what the hell is going on? You're one of them!"

"Settle down, that I am. My name is Constantine, I'm here to help."

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Gary crawled to his pistol and raised it, but pain shot up his body causing him to lower it.

"I just killed a man in my squad to save your life, is that enough?" He had a point. Constantine knelt down next to Gary and gave him two stimpacks. "I apologize, I don't have Med-x for the pain, but you should feel better soon."

"I hope so," Constantine lifted up Gary, putting his arm around his shoulder. "I need to get that relay dish for Three Dog…"

"The dish could wait Mr. North; you need some legitimate medical attention." Gary tried to push himself away, but he was too weak.

"No! I need to get in there! I need it to find my dad!" Constantine stared at him and sighed.

"Fine, but we must…"

"Puny humans!"

"Oh come the fuck on…" Gary groaned. Super mutants, four of them, had discovered them.

"We must make haste!" Constantine shouted, he pulled out his magnum and fired several rounds towards the Super Mutants.

"Wait, we need to get the dog!" Gary shouted. Constantine rolled his eyes and bent down. He threw the dog over his shoulder and still had Gary using him as support. With Super Mutants on their tail, they quickly made their way into the Museum of Technology. Not knowing the danger that awaited them inside…

* * *

><p><strong>Well that's chapter six folks. I hope you like my minor spin on Andale<strong>.

**Any feedback you all give would be much appreciated, I'd like to know if there is anything that could be improved/changed.**

**-Troxfot**


	7. The Enemy of My Enemy

Chapter 7: The Enemy of my Enemy…

"The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend"

* * *

><p>Even though the rest of the world had changed in the last 200 years, most of it being blasted to hell and back, the Museum of Technology had remained untouched by time…mostly. The pieces on display were all Pre-War, space technology and aviation equipment.<p>

Seeing as Gary was bleeding to death however, he had no time to admire the museum.

"I have bandages in my bag. We'll also need you to take off that jumpsuit." Constantine showed no sign of fear for Gary's life, even though he had may have ruined his own to save the Lone Wanderer's. He placed Dogmeat on the ground, who was still out cold. Gary removed his backpack and weapons before Constantine placed him on the floor, leaning him up against a wall.

Gary complied with the mercenary's orders, unzipping his jumpsuit and sliding his arms out, exposing his bloody undershirt. "We're going to have to try and remove the bullets first, I have a surgeon's kit in my backpack..."

"No need, the bullet was a 5.56, it was a through and through. I suggest we get you a new set of armor, this wasn't enough to protect you." Constantine rummaged through his bag, retrieving a needle and sewing thread along with bandages. Gary removed his shirt and leaned up against the wall again, his breathing was heavy and he felt tired after doing such as small task.

"Ya know," Gary muttered while Constantine sewed him up. "you never told me what your name is."

Constantine looked up for a second, "I did, you must not have heard. My name is Constantine, I was a part of the Talon Company mercenary group," and then continued with the task at hand.

"If you were tasked to kill me, why did you save me?"

Constantine didn't respond at first, he simply kept his head down and continued to thread the needle through Gary's skin. "I… I was tasked by God to aid you."

Gary couldn't help but stare at the merc. "Well I wasn't expecting that as an answer. Would you like to explain farther perhaps?"

"Unfortunately this is not the time nor place for that, Mr. North." Constantine put away the needle and picked up the bandages, only to throw then back on the group and pick up his sniper. Gary tried to figure out what had Constantine spooked, but couldn't hear anything.

"Two of them..." Constantine whispered. He had to fire only two shots, one for each enemy. One Super Mutant had just walked down a staircase and was walking towards the two men. The other had been up on a balcony, but both were now dead.

"We must hurry, mutants will be upon us soon." as Constantine turned around to face Gary once again, he saw that he was injecting a stimpack in Dogmeat. The Lone Wanderer started petting his companion, hoping he would wake up.

"What is the dog's name?" Constantine asked as he started to roll the bandages over Gary's upper torso.

"Dogmeat," the name caused Constantine to look up and raise an eyebrow. "I didn't name him; he came with me after _your _people killed his old master."

Constantine wrapped Gary's shin and put away the bandages. "I apologize for the actions of my coworkers, but I assure you that I took no part in the killing of your companions."

"You didn't do anything to prevent the killing either." Gary said. "Listen, I'm sorry if I'm not acting grateful because I really am for you saving my life. This whole thing is bullshit though! I have mercenaries after me for what? Disarming Mr. Burke and a nuke? It looks like I can't help anyone out here without it coming to bite me in the ass! Last time I help anyone..."

"That would be ill advised to stop, Mr. North, believe it or not you have the capability of making the Capital Wasteland a better place." Constantine helped Gary up. "Can you walk?"

"Yea I'll be fine." Just as Gary started walking around, he heard the sound of claws on tile. "Dogmeat! You're alright!" His dog companion barked in response then ran up to him and started licking his face. It appeared that beside a small bump, Dogmeat was fine.

"It is good to see he is well." Constantine said. When Dogmeat turned to face the new man he growled loudly, recognizing the armor.

"I know you'd like to rip out his throat, boy, but he's a good guy... I think." Gary withdrew his hunting rifle and looked at Constantine. "Lead the way."

"It is not wise to place a sniper on point, but as you wish." The mercenary walked ahead, passing a desk and a downed airplane. Gary looked at it briefly, if he remembered history class correctly, it kind of looked like the Wright Brothers' airplane.

The group walked up a set of stairs and past of set of closed doors. Constantine led Gary and Dogmeat to the end of the walkway, leading to a new room. Gary read the sign, 'Vault Tour'. As soon as group entered the room, lights flooded the area. The entrance looked like a cave opening to a Vault, very similar to that of Vault 101.

A voice recording came over the PA. "Vault-Tec welcomes you to our new line of subterranean vaults featuring our patented Tripe-S Technology."

As Gary walked in he couldn't help but feel a small pang of homesickness, yet at the same time feel free of his confines. "Well this brings me back." Gary said aloud.

As the group walked down a set of stairs more lights came on. "Being underground got you down? Smile! Our SimuSun Lighting mimics the feeling of being outside with only a fraction of the sunburn potential!"

"Just as comforting."

"Was your Vault similar to this one?" Constantine turned around to face the Vault dweller.

"More or less." They passed several exhibits showing living quarters and kitchens. "After seeing the Capital Wasteland, the Vault seems so… dull."

"I would think it would be more safe then the wastes."

The loudspeaker went off again. "Concerns about security? Our Eye-on-You Camera enable the Vault's leader to watch your every move. You'll never be alone again!"

Gary raised a finger, pointing the loudspeaker. "Not unless you have some wack-job leading you're Vault. I happened to have a crazy Overseer which happens to be why I'm out here." Constantine shook his head in acknowledgement.

"We hope you've enjoyed our tour today. If you have any further questions, please take a brochure from our helpful Vault-Tec guides." Gary stepped over a skeleton as he walked out of Vault exhibit.

"Slacking…" Gary muttered. There was a set of double doors to the exit's left, the three went through the door.

This area had seen better days; 200 years of being deprived of maintenance had caused part of the ceiling to crumble. The walls were damaged and the tiles of the floor were shattered. There was an eerie silence hanging in the room. Constantine crouched and Gary did the same.

"What's wrong?" Gary whispered.

"It's too quite. We'll make less noise while crouched." Constantine replied. Gary assumed the merc knew what he was doing so he didn't argue. The two men and dog headed to the left down a hall. The doors at the end of the hall led to a multilevel room displaying a rocket.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the lower floors causing Gary to tighten his grip on his rifle. Constantine walked forward a bit and looked down. "One mutant in sight. Prepare yourself because when I fire more will come down upon us."

Constantine raised his sniper and fired a single bullet. Almost like an echo, the roars of mutants filled the room. The rest of their time in the museum was filled with killing mutants. It was almost as if the Super Mutants had been using the museum as a base. When they finally made it to the dish they used old leather belts to make it like a backpack. Constantine offered to take it seeing as Gary was still injured.

The group finally made it back to where they had come from. Constantine and Gary ran to opposite sides of the front door of the museum. "Where exactly is the Washington Monument?" Gary questioned. He ejected the clip on his hunting rifle and slammed in a fresh one.

"It is the single largest building in all of Washington DC, it's impossible to miss it."

"There's going to be a lot of Super Mutants aren't there?"

"The center of the Mall is full of trenches; those trenches are filled with Super Mutants."

"So we're going to have to run like hell then, right?"

Constantine sighed and nodded his head, "Yes, run and gun."

"Alright, Dogmeat are you ready?" Gary asked. The dog barked happily. Gary put his hand around the door handle, Constantine did the same. The two nodded and opened the door at the same time.

The three ran out the door and charged in the direction of the Washington Monument. Two Super Mutants were directly in front of the Museum, looking over the bodies of the dead mercs. Gary and Constantine took each of them down, a bullet to the head each.

"We must keep running or we will become overpowered!" Constantine shouted.

"I won't complain!" The three ran alongside the edge of the trenches, being careful not to fall in.

"One mutie atop that bunker and he has a huge ass gun!" Gary pointed out a Super Mutant atop a makeshift bunker high above the trenches. He appeared to be commanding other mutants around him. When he noticed the group he swung his mini gun in their direction. The weapon's six barrels fired up and started spinning rapidly.

"I see him." Constantine stopped momentarily to raise his sniper. It had become second nature, aiming at the head of a target and firing. After Constantine pumped two rounds into the mutant's head it literally exploded and the body dropped to the ground. Constantine started running next to Gary again, reloading his rifle while doing so.

"You're going to have to teach me how to snipe like that!"

"You are already a good shot, but when we make it out of here I promise you I will." The two men followed Dogmeat's lead to the monument, it was getting closer.

Gary heard something that sounded like a powerful jet lifting off. Gary turned to the direction of the noise, his eyes wide with horror. A Super Mutant was carrying a missle launcher and had just fired the weapon. Gary quickly picked up Dogmeat and put in a protective hug. Gary couldn't warn Constantine in time, the missile went off as it made contact with the ground in front of them.

The two men were thrown off their feet from the explosion. Gary soared into one of the trenches below him; it was a hard impact with the ground. Gary let go of his dog who seemed unscathed.

Constantine had not been thrown into the trenches, rather he had flown backwards. He stood up dusted himself off. The smell of smoke caught his attention. The mercenary found the source, a line up of cars that were on fire.

"That doesn't bode well…" Constantine muttered. Pre-War cars were powered by nuclear reactors and when they exploded they were essentially the same as mini-nukes. Constantine started sprinting in the opposite direction; he felt the heat on his back as the cars exploded, causing a ringing in his ears.

* * *

><p>Sydney had assessed her situation, and as far as she was concerned she was screwed. This wasn't her first time relic hunting in D.C., but the National Archives were different. This Pre-War building was patrolled by mutants, and a lot of them. She had been sent on a job to find the Declaration of Independence and frankly she didn't think her life was worth the amount of caps she was going to be paid.<p>

The mines she had set up wouldn't hold off the mutants for long because they were stupid creatures that would simply run into them. Her 10mm SMG dubbed the 'Ultra" SMG had a finite amount of clips that wouldn't be able to hold her off forever.

"All of this for a damned piece of paper." She fired off a burst from her SMG, clipping a Super Mutant. She took cover behind some sandbags as they returned fire.

All of a sudden a string of explosions went off; they were loud but distant so they couldn't be her mines. Sydney didn't know what the cause of the explosions was, but whatever it was it was big.

"More humans!" Shouted one of the mutants. The group that had congregated outside of the room Sydney had taken cover in roared and stormed out.

"I feel sorry for whatever sap they're going after." Sydney muttered. She put her weapon back on the holster on her leg and sat down. She exhaled deeply and turned to her computer, determined to continue her work.

* * *

><p>Three bullets went off from above; Constantine had just killed the rocket toting mutant. The merc leaned out to peer down upon Gary and Dogmeat. "Are you well?"<p>

"I've been worse and I've been better." Gary called out. "How is the dish?"

"Intact."

"Good. What the hell happened up there?"

"Some vehicles blew up."

"Oh… well that's fun." Gary said. "Listen, I don't see any stairs around so it looks like we're going to have to continue through to the end of the trench. Meet us at the monument."

"Consider it done." Constantine got up and waved for Gary and Dogmeat to start going. The dog ran out ahead, barking at an unseen enemy. Gary withdrew his shotgun for the close quarter combat. Gary rushed in to follow Dogmeat, who was already taking on two mutants. They were both armed with wooden boards, clumsily missing the agile dog and hitting each other inside.

"Suck on this!" Gary shouted as he pumped a shell each into the mutie's faces. Both of the overgrown mutants dropped to the ground.

"Stupid human!" Another mutant, this one stood in front of Gary and the exit. It was larger then normal mutants in every way, closely resembling a Behemoth yet not that freakishly huge. Its muscles were huge; its arms weren't touching its sides. Its eyes were pure white, similar to those of a Behemoth. In its right hand was a large weapon that resembled some kind of hammer. Gary was sure that if the bludgeon made contact it would not end well.

"You have to be kiddin' me…" Gary mumbled. Gary fired off three shells in the mutant's direction, blood seeped from its wounds but it didn't appear to affect it. Obviously angered by the attack, the mutant launched itself towards Gary. As it brought down the hammer Gary quickly rolled out of the way. The earth cracked as the weapon made contact with the ground.

"What the fuck?" Gary shouted. He fired several more shells into the back of the beast. The monstrosity recoiled slightly and turned around to face Gary yet again. Dogmeat swiped at the mutant with its claws, striking blood.

"Dogmeat get out of there!" Gary called for his dog companion. Despite its size the mutant was surprisingly fast, but not fast enough to catch Dogmeat. Gary got in closer to fire more rounds, but was picked up by the mutant's free hand. It managed to hold Gary with just one hand, puling him off the ground and crushing his chest.

The mutant grinned and opened its mouth to let out a demonic laugh. It raised its weapon and prepared to smash Gary. The Lone Wanderer took this opportunity to push his shotgun into the mutant's mouth. Gary pulled the trigger only once.

The mutant's grip loosened and a moan emitted from its mouth as the back of its head exploded, painting the wall of the trench. Gary dropped to the ground and coughed as he tried to catch his breath. He felt as if his head was going to explode when the mutant's grip had tightened around his chest.

"Let's go, bud." Gary said as he stood up. Dogmeat barked and ran out of the trench, Gary following close behind. The area in front of the Washington Monument was a no man's land, completely devoid of anything. Gary took a second to admire the monument; he was in awe of its size and the architecture in general.

The monument was fenced with two Brotherhood of Steel members guarding the entrance, each armed with very large guns. Constantine was nowhere to be seen.

"Behind you."

"What the fuck!" Gary jumped in the air and turned around, Constantine was standing there, sniper in hand.

"No need to swear."

"You don't just sneak up on me like that, especially when I have a shotgun, alright? Now how about we just get up the damned monument and put the dish up there so we don't have worry about mutants anymore?"

"Well we'll have to worry about them for a bit longer." Constantine replied, pointing to a group of four or five mutants in the distance, racing towards the three. Gary ran ahead towards the monument, when the BoS members caught sight of Constantine they raised their weapons.

"Talon Company isn't welcome here!"

"Whoa whoa he's with me guys, I'm Gary North." The two soldiers looked at each other and back to Gary.

"We're a part of the 2nd Monument Defense Detachment. GNR radioed ahead about you so go ahead and we'll kill the muties. We have our eyes on the merc scumbag though." Replied one of the men.

"That's fine with me," Gary said. "Let's go." Constantine and Dogmeat followed Gary through the gates of the fences and towards the Washington Monument doors. A radio was on a ledge tuned into Galaxy News Radio. The two metal doors that served as the entrance had the words 'Mall Outpost' scribbled on them along with various propaganda posters.

The inside of the monument was mainly rubble. A single golden portrait of George Washington hung over the elevator doors. A small bell rang as the elevator doors opened and the group entered. The lift jumped as Gary hit the 'up' button. Weapon fire was heard outside over the noise of the gears of the elevator activating.

The elevator continually rocked and jumped as it climbed the obelisk. Gary looked up; a panel was removed at ceiling, revealing the elevator shaft. He crossed his arms and waiting with anticipation.

The bell rang yet again as the doors opened. Gary exited first; the small room was crammed with various pieces of technology. To the left was what appeared to be the main control for the relay dish. There was an opening in the wall of the room. When Gary walked over and leaned out he let out a heavy sigh.

"Problem?" Constantine moved towards Gary.

"I have to go out _there_ to put up the dish." He pointed outside; the current relay dish was in horrible condition just as Three Dog had said. It was attached to the monument's exterior. Gary threw down his weapons and motioned for Constantine to hand him the relay dish.

"Be careful."

"I'll try my best." Gary accepted the dish and held it under his arm as he went on the ledge. He kept his back close to the exterior wall and he walked across on the thin ledge. Gary managed to pry the old dish off and throw it off the monument.

"Watch out down there!" Gary shouted. He hooked up the lunar dish securely and entered the monument safely. As Gary put his gear back on, Constantine flipped the switch to activate the relay. Gary's Pip-boy crackled to life as Galaxy News Radio's signal was found.

"Our job is done, let's get outta here."

* * *

><p>There were two guards stationed outside of Galaxy News Radio. The two stood in silence, the only noise was the wind flowing through burned out windows until one of them, a knight, spoke up. "I think we need another Behemoth attack…"<p>

The knight's superior, a paladin, turned to his companion "You're an idiot, you know that right?"

The man was bored to say the least. "Ah come on you know what I mean, GNR outpost is boring as hell most of the time!" The knight replied.

"We get attacked by mutants every so often, and even the Outcasts take potshots at us if they pass by! I'd say that's enough."

"Stop acting all high and mighty! You're a paladin and they stuck you defending a building! You should be out there in the wastes!"

The paladin laughed and turned to his companion. "And I suppose you'd want me to bring you with me, huh?"

"Well if you put in the good word, of course!" The eldest Brotherhood guard simply sighed and turned his attention back to his guard duty. Three figures came out of the building in front of GNR, two men and a dog.

"Look who is back, the Lone Wanderer." Even though Three Dog had made a broadcast about Gary only several hours early using the name 'The Lone Wanderer' it has caught on already.

"Oh shit, is that a Talon Company merc with him?" The knight asked, raising his assault rifle. The paladin squinted his eyes, the guy next to the Lone Wanderer was definitely wearing Talon Company armor, strange. As the group approached the knight stopped them. "Hold up there you two…"

Gary held up his hand. "I know what you're thinking, this guy is Talon Company and they're a buncha scum bags. Well you are right in thinking that, however this particular scum bag is not a scum bag. He happened to save my life, so he's with me."

The two guards turned to each other and then back to Gary. The paladin spoke up first, "In which case go on in, Three Dog is expecting you up in the studio." Gary and Constantine both nodded and gave their thanks as they headed into the radio station.

Gary had GNR playing aloud on his Pip-boy the whole walk back, he really enjoyed the music and he learned a good deal about the wastes and what was going on. He learned of the mysterious 'Enclave', the supposed remnants of the United States government. They were led by a President John Henry Eden; Gary had heard several of the president's broadcasts on the Enclave station. He also learned that he apparently was going by the name of 'The Lone Wanderer', which he got a kick out of.

The two men entered the studio with Dogmeat. The entry room was in total disarray, but they ignored it. They then went up the stairs to find Three Dog. Three Dog was sitting on a swivel chair as the two men and dog entered the studio. The DJ threw out his arms as he saw Gary, ignoring Constantine; a large smile was on his face. "The Hero of the Wasteland returns!"

"Ha. Thanks, Three Dog. Just glad to help out with the Good Fight and what not."

"Hey, you're the one who deserves all the thanks! You struck a major blow against tyranny! And now GNR can be heard clear across the Capital Wasteland again. That'll give Eden and those Muties something to think about."

Three Dog stood up to look at Gary eye to eye. "But before I get back to my calling, I bet you wanna hear about your Dad."

"Yea you could say that." Gary joked.

"When your dad passed through here, he and I talked for a good long time. He's a real stand-up kind of guy. He mentioned some scientific mumbo-jumbo which didn't make much sense to me and mentioned something called "Project Purity. He also said something about going to visit a Doctor Li in Rivet City. Then, he left in a hurry."

"Rivet City? Where's that?"

Three Dog gave Gary a strange look with a cocked eyebrow. "You've never heard of Rivet City? Wow… just… wow. Well, a whole bunch of people got together and turned a beached aircraft carrier into a town. Pretty cool, huh? You could just follow the river south from here… there's no way you can miss it."

"_But _in the case that you _do_ miss it, I'm sure your new amigo here could help you lead the way." Pointing to Constantine finally acknowledging the presence of the merc.

"Yes I know the way." Constantine spoke up for the first time.

"Talon Company, kid? I mean he seems polite but really? How did that work out?" Three Dog crossed his arms, expecting to be amused by the story.

"It just kinda… did, ya know? He helped me out and wanted to stick around. He's a good sniper." Gary did want to get into the whole 'sent from God' thing.

Three Dog shrugged, accepting the answer. "Well Lone Wanderer it has been fun, good luck finding your dad, kid. Don't let the crazy wasteland eat you up."

* * *

><p>"Well to Rivet City then, should prove to be interesting, eh?" Gary asked as they exited Three Dog's studio.<p>

"With you, Mr. North? It should prove to be quite the time."

"Constantine, why exactly do you call me Mr. North when you're obviously several years my elder? You could just call me Gary."

"I could, but I call you it out of respect," Constantine replied, still stone-faced.

Gary stopped and leaned up against the railing overlooking the ground floor. "Respect for what? I've done nothing special."

"Respect for what you stand for, you are a rare person to be in this wasteland Mr. North. You look to help people even when faced with a quest to find your father."

The Lone Wanderer thought for a second, he didn't really know what to say. "LW," called one of the guards. Gary peered over the railing to look down to the first floor. "There are two men outside who claim they know you; do you wish to speak to them?"

Gary was slightly confused; he didn't know many people out in the wastes. The only other friendly people he knew were in Megaton, but that was quite the ways away. "Um yea sure, thanks for the heads up." Gary turned to Constantine and shrugged. Gary and Dogmeat went down the stairs and out the door first, the mercenary trailing far behind.

"I'm telling you we know him and if he is here then we need to speak with him!"

"Listen local, I'd love to help you but..." started the guard, as Gary opened the door he patted the soldier on the shoulder. Gary looked at the two men and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Well look who it is! The Lone Wanderer himself!" It was Billy Creel from Megaton. Carlos Vega-Lopez was standing right next to him, a smile slowing growing.

"Billy? Carlos? What the hell are you guys doing here?" Gary started laughing as he threw his arms around the two. "You have no idea how happy I am to see two friendly faces! Most of the faces I've been seeing were pissed and wanted me dead!"

"You look like crap compared to how I met you, ya know that, kid?" Billy joked. Dogmeat started barking happily. "I see you have a new friend!"

"Dogmeat is still with you! Well he chose a good new master." Carlos exclaimed as he bent down to pet the dog.

"Wait Billy, what about Maggie?" Gary asked, remembering Billy's adopted daughter.

"She's being taken care of by Manya and Nathan Vargas back in Megaton. I wouldn't have left her but when I found out about the trouble you were in I decided to get you out of what ever you were in. Apparently you have it covered."

"Trouble…?" Gary started.

The door to Galaxy News Radio opened up yet again, this time Constantine stepped out. Billy took a step back, recognizing the Talon Company logo. Carlos pointed up a finger.

"You!"

"Hello Mr. Vega-Lopez, I'm glad that you made it to Megaton alright. Is your friend in good health?" Constantine said this all matter of factly. Carlos got up close to Constantine and shoved his finger in his face. Before he could say anything, Gary pulled him away and held up his hands between the two.

"Hold up everyone! The Lone Wanderer here is confused, how do you two know each other?"

"We've met before." Carlos said gruffly, crossing his arms. When he didn't carry on, Gary made a rolling motion with his hands to clarify. "You remember when we were attacked that one night?"

"Course."

"Well it was Talon Company. They were after you. Me and one of the other guards were the only survivors. This guy and his little buddy wanted to get info outta me, but I wouldn't talk. The other merc was going to kill me but then your friend here killed him. Shot him in the back of the head in cold blood."

Gary turned to Constantine, "This true?"

"Yes, Mr. Vega-Lopez speaks the truth."

"After that he gave me some stimpacks and sent me back to Megaton with the wounded guard. He told me to get medical aid and not to follow. He said that he was going to be the one to find you, not anyone else."

"I mean Mr. North no harm." Even though Carlos was pointing the accusatory finger at him, Constantine still showed little emotion.

"Yea well forgive me for thinkin otherwise! You could see why I think that way when you killed a man you worked with!" Carlos turned to Gary. "Listen I know that he saved my life, and he's workin with you now but I'm having trouble with him cuz I feel that he's just gonna kill us when he gets the chance!"

"Listen, Carlos. I appreciate your whole worried for my well being thing, I truly do, but Constantine saved my life also. He also assured me that he truly wished to fight with me. I hope that you stick around, but if you can't work with Constantine you're going to have to find something else to do." Gary looked Carlos in the eye, awaiting his response. The caravan guard shook his head and sighed.

"Fine. I'll be keeping an eye on him though."

"I look forward to working with you Mr. Vega-Lopez. And I don't believe we've met before," Constantine said to Billy. The merc extended his hand. "I am Constantine."

Billy hesitated at first. He knew all about Talon Company from his time in the wastes, but he accepted the fact that this merc was different. "Name's Billy Creel, most people just call me plain ol' Billy. Nice to meet you."

"Well now that this joyous meet and greet is over, shall we carry on to Rivet City?" Gary asked. The three other men all agreed. "Constantine you can lead the way, correct?"

"As you wish."

"And you could explain why you are here." Gary said to Billy. The group started walking and Billy laughed.

"Alright alright. It ain't that long of a story. I found Carlos at the clinic in Megaton when he first arrived. He let me know what had happened with the attack. I kinda felt bad for sendin' you out there and then getting ambushed, so I figured I would go with Carlos to make sure you're alright."

"Well that's noble of ya Billy, but I don't know when we'll be getting back to Megaton to drop ya off."

"Listen, I know how to handle myself. Before I sat around in Megaton I was a caravan guard believe it or not!" Billy raised his magnum to show Gary. "So is your dad in Rivet City?"

"That's what Three Dog said, just hope he didn't leave already."

"Don't worry, bud." Billy placed a hand on Gary's shoulder. "You'll find him."

* * *

><p>Oliver and Jericho had made it back to Tenpenny Tower with no trouble at all. Oliver practically ran the whole way back. He needed that information on his brother. He would get back at Gary. As the two men approached the gates of Tenpenny Tower, they were stopped by a man leaning up against the wall.<p>

"You Oliver North?" The man wasn't a guard and he certainly didn't belong at the Tower. He was wearing metal armor with spikes. His voice was rough and his face was dirty.

"Who the fuck is askin?"

"Eulogy Jones of Paradise Falls. He's monitored what you've done and you seem like just the kinda stand up guy who could help us out."

"And whats in it for us, slaver?" Jericho added in.

"Slavers?" Oliver quickly turned to Jericho.

"Yea, slavers. You know what those are, or where you not exposed to the topic in Vault?" Jericho teased. "Paradise Falls is there little headquarters."

"Our morals appear to be the same, North. You wanna make some caps? We all like caps right? They make the world go round."

Oliver crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening, what do I gotta do?"

"Here is a list of… VIP's that Mr. Jones is interested in. You capture them and then bring 'em to Paradise Falls and you'll get paid a pretty penny. And then of course if you ever find yourself in D.C. go to the Lincoln Memorial and ask for Leroy Walker. Tell 'im you've been sent as a problem solver for Eulogy."

"Aight, how am I supposed to capture these 'VIP's'? Tie 'em up with a rope?"

The slaver laughed. "We are in the year 2277, North, we have technology. Take these." The slaver handed Oliver some kind of gun and a large circular object. "This is a mesmetron, all you gotta do is point and shoot. The target will be stunned. That's when you slap on this bad boy." He said, holding up the circular object. "It's a slave collar. Tell 'em to go to Paradise Falls or else their head'll explode."

"Sounds fun." Oliver said, equipping the items on his belt.

"Lookin forward to workin with ya." The slaver nodded and started walking off in the distance. Oliver and Jericho headed through the gate and ran past the lobby. Oliver punched the elevator button and anxiously waited.

As soon as the doors opened Oliver rushed out and walked past the guard to Burke's room. Mr. Burke was sitting in a chair, smoking a cigarette. "OK Burke, the whore was a no go. She got eaten by cannibals."

"We did slaughter those fuckers though." Jericho added in. Burke crossed his arms upon receiving this news.

"Exactly, so what news do you have for me?"

"Impatient impatient." Burke crossed the room and pored himself a scotch. He slowly drank it and let out a breath. "Refreshing. Your brother is headed towards Rivet City. If you wish to kill him before Talon Company I will allow you, it would save me the trouble of having to pay them."

Oliver quickly turned to Jericho. "You know where that is?"

Jericho chuckled. "Course I do kid, I was raised in some fuckin' Vault like you were."

"In that case, we're leavin. I'll be back with Gary's head." Oliver exited Burke's room before he could respond. He would make it to Rivet City and find Gary. He would find him, and kill him.


	8. Past, Present, and Hoping for a Future

Chapter 8- Past, Present, and Hoping for a Future

_Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment_

* * *

><p>"We will stop here for the night." Constantine turned to face the group. They had been traveling along the river just like Three Dog had said. The wanderers had then come upon a metro station. According to Constantine, the underground route would lead them safely to Rivet City.<p>

"Rivet City isn't much farther according to my Pip-boy; why not just get this little adventure over with?" Gary inquired.

"Well ya see Rivet City has a giant movin' bridge in front of the city. At night they tend not to move the bridge for new visitors on account for the safety of the entire boat." Billy Creel answered the Lone Wanderer's question. He smiled and raised his hands. "Look on the bright side; we have a camp already made for us by these nice raiders!"

The group had just killed a squad of raiders inside the metro tunnel they were in. A small camp was set up, several mattresses were scattered around a lit fire.

"Well I guess there's no sense in camping outside when we have this kind of luxury." Gary replied.

"We will have to have a constant watch set up; I will take the first position." Constantine offered.

"Oh no," Carlos, the caravan guard, raised a hand in protest, "I'm not going to have you watching over us while we're asleep; waiting to slit our throats or somethin."

"For the love of everything holy in this world, Carlos just take it easy." Gary said. "I'll be up anyway; I haven't been sleeping well lately so you don't have to worry your pretty little head about Constantine being the only one awake."

Gary turned to the ex-mercenary. "Constantine, thank you for offering to take the first position."

"Of course, Mr. North." Constantine walked away from the others as they got comfortable at the camp. On their way to the metro station, the group was attacked by what appeared to be some kind of mutated bear that was apparently dubbed a 'Yao Guai." Each of the men had removed a large chunk of meat from the animal after it was killed. Gary removed the meat from his backpack along with a bottle of water. He withdrew his combat knife and stuck it into the meat. Dogmeat laid down next to him, resting his head on his master's leg.

As Gary was holding the Yao Guai meat over the fire, Billy sat down next to him. "You haven't been sleepin' well, kid?"

"Nah, I'm a light sleeper, not an insomniac. I just said that hoping Carlos would drop the topic." Gary rotated the knife and kept his gaze on the fire.

"Ah I see." Billy took out a Nuka Cola and opened it up, pocketing the cap in the process.

After Billy took a deep chug, Gary asked him a question. "Do you know what's up with Carlos and the whole, Talon Company thing?"

"Well in case you didn't already know, Talon Company isn't exactly seen in a positive manner. The mercs in Talon Company are practically raiders with better weapons and training."

"Like raiders...?" Gary looked up from the fire and towards Constantine. The merc was gentle, he was a proficient killer but he was nothing like a raider.

"And if I remember correctly, Carlos' family was killed by Talon Company or something like that. I could be wrong though." Billy added in.

"Well that would definitely cause bitterness towards someone..." Carlos sat across from the two, causing an odd silence. Billy down the Nuka Cola and stood up.

"I gotta take a leak, I'll be back." Billy walked off in the distance towards Constantine.

The meat that Gary was cooking appeared to be finished. He took out a fork and cut up the meat, placing several small chunks on the floor for Dogmeat. "So Carlos, you gotta wife? Family?"

The caravan guard looked up from his food. "Nope only family I ever had got killed."

"Oh jeez I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"I appreciate it Gary, but you don't really wanna hear about it."

"I mean if you don't want to talk about it that's fine. But if you'd like to talk about it I sincerely would care to hear about it." Gary stabbed his food with his fork and took a bite.

Carlos took a deep breath and let it out. "I was born Carlos Lopez. I had a father and mother, and we had all lived in Old Olney, a town North of DC. Now I know what you're thinking, 'isn't Old Olney full of deathclaws?'"

"The hell is a deathclaw?" Gary asked, looking up from the cooked meat.

"Oh that's right, you're from the Vault. You know how to handle yourself out here so I forgot you just got out in the wastes. Ok well a deathclaw is... Well the only time I saw one was when I was a kid so I don't really remember. After hearing the stories I've heard, well I don't wanna see one again. They are monstrous creatures, standing well over eight feet with two claws that could chop you clean in half."

"I look forward to finding one seeing as I have crappy luck. Now you were saying about..."

"I know what I was saying! I just figured you'd like to know what a deathclaw is. Ok well I'm from Old Olney. It was used as a base for mercenaries that would be rented as caravan guards. Truthfully I don't really know what my parents did, I don't know if my dad was a merc or a caravan owner or what. I do remember that I learned to use a gun when I was a child at Old Olney. That is all I remember of my first home..." Carlos trailed off and gazed at the floor.

"Then the raiders came. I was only around 12 or so, maybe a bit younger or older. Most of the mercs were gone that day, leaving the town with little to no protection. Raiders were never seen that far north because they thrive where the population is largest. They attacked in broad daylight, they weren't heavily armed but they outnumbered us. My mom managed to hide me in the sewers knowing that raiders weren't smart enough to actually search. I heard her screams as the bastards raped and eventually killed her. I kept thinking my dad would save her, but I figured he got killed soon enough by the raiders. My family and any inhabitants of Old Olney were slaughtered, I was the only survivor besides the men who were out at the time."

"Christ, I'm sorry to hear that Carlos. How did you get out of there?"

"Well I lived in those sewers for a bit more then a week; the town had stored food down there just in case the situation arose."

"Is that sanitary?" Gary questioned.

Carlos smiled. "It kept me alive didn't it? Well one night I heard gunfire and screaming up above. I managed to sneak out of the sewer, hoping that the remaining mercs had come back to save me I ran out like an idiot. The raiders were being butchered by God only knows what. It was really dark out that night; I remember the moon being blocked out by the clouds. I saw a hulking figure in the distance, there was a lot of screaming coming from that direction. I also saw bright green lights, kind of like lasers. When the green lights hit the raiders they turned to goo. The people firing the weapons were big. Now I assume it's the Brotherhood but at the same time I have to remember they don't use green weapons."

"Anyway, I ran like hell. I never left Old Olney but at that point I didn't give a fuck cuz if I stayed I would surely have been killed. I got lucky real quick, a merc was on the outskirts of town, the only friendly face I've seen in a while. It was my uncle Rob, I really don't think he was my uncle but I always called him that. I remember throwing my arms around him and crying my eyes out, telling him everything that had happened. After that he took me under his wing."

Gary had finished his food and water and just stared at Carlos, he really didn't know what to say. Carlos looked up and smiled. "I'm sure the only reason you wanted to hear about this was to find out why I hate Talon Company. Well I could get to that."

Gary raised his hands and shook his head. "No no no, i didn't have that on my agenda." Gary innocently lied in response.

Carlos couldn't help but laugh. "I bet you suck at poker, man."

"I actually got a decent amount of caps from Brotherhood guys by playing cards." Gary stated. "But carry on."

"Well I was eventually taken in by a family run caravan that my uncle introduced me to. The caravan was run by the Vega's, hence the second last name. I was just going to get rid of the whole 'Lopez' thing but they said it was important to remember my real family. The caravan was made up of a mom, dad, and their two children who were a good ten years older then me. The siblings were extremely kind to me, teaching me how to be a proper caravan guard and what not. I spent a little less then twenty years with that caravan, maybe around fifteen but that doesn't matter. Point is that you get what they all meant to me."

"One day we received a tip from a fellow caravan group to visit Takoma Park. We had never visited the area but the group told us that the citizens there had no way of gaining supplies other then caravans so it was a great way to earn some caps. We went to the site right away, trusting in the other group's tip seeing as we were good friends with them and all."

"Upon arrival we realized that something was definitely wrong. There were corpses in the streets and the buildings were on fire. We had planned to get out as soon as possible but a mine went off, injuring one of my family members and scaring the pack Brahmin off. The Brahmin ran deeper into Takoma Park and one of us had to go get it. I ran out to turn the dumb animal and when I had finally caught up with it I heard bullets in the direction I had just came from."

"The Vega's were overwhelmed by attackers. It was Talon Company. God dammit, we didn't stand a chance. They came out of the fuckin' woodwork. Everyone was mowed down in front of my eyes. I took a couple bullets and then dropped. I'm not proud of it but I had a bit of a Med-X problem at that time so I didn't feel really any of it. If it wasn't for the morphine I wouldn't have been able to use a couple stimpacks before I eventually passed out."

"So you could say that I hold a grudge, yea. Cuz the people I knew longer then my real family was killed in front of me."

"I don't know if it helps but I'm really sorry, Carlos."

"Well you wanted the story and there it is, no need to show sympathy when it was the past."

"Excuse me." Constantine walked over to Gary and Carlos. "Takoma Park is in the general vicinity of DC, is it not?"

Carlos practically jumped from the ground and rushed towards Constantine. "Are you implying that we're stupid, like we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, you sick fuck?" Carlos grabbed Constantine by the shoulder and pulled back his fist. Billy came running around the corner and took hold of Carlos. Gary got in-between the merc and guard.

"If you attack me I will not be responsible for the outcome." Constantine replied smoothly.

"Oh I'm sure that you'd like that, huh? You'd get to finish the job you sonova bitch?" Carlos shouted back. Gary placed a hand on Carlos' chest and put a finger in his face.

"Carlos, take a walk! Get some air and take a damned breath or something. And Constantine, I know you mean no harm but don't patronize him!" Carlos slapped Gary's finger which caused Dogmeat to growl. He shrugged Billy off of him and walked off into the depths of the station. As the guard walked away Gary couldn't help but shake his head and scratch it.

"Damn I don't know what to do..."

"You couldn't have handled that any better, kid." Billy said. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't do anythin' stupid, I'll be back."

Constantine looked to Gary. "Not that I am doubting Mr. Vega-Lopez's story but..."

"It doesn't seem to add up?" Constantine nodded in response to Gary's notion. "Yea I hear ya, Constantine. I wanna believe him... But something doesn't sit right. He conveniently saved himself before passing out? I know a thing or two about the medical world and the way he described it didn't make sense... And Talon Company didn't check to see if he was dead? Not to compliment the scumbags you used to work with but they don't seem to make a mistake like that."

"Don't worry about it Mr. North, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes. I will take the watch, you need rest for tomorrow."

Gary rubbed his eyes. "Yea you're probably right, g'night Constantine."

"Good night Mr. North." Gary walked to one of the mattresses on the ground and sat down on it. He waited for Dogmeat to get comfortable before laying down his head and closing his eyes.

* * *

><p>The group prepared to leave as the first signs of the sun began to seep through the cracks in the ceiling. The men gathered their belongings in silence, the events of the previous night still hanging over them.<p>

Gary was the first to speak up. "First thing that we do when we get to Rivet City is stock up, that means ammo, food, meds, and in my case armor."

"Who died and made you leader." Carlos muttered. He had dark circles under his eyes; he appeared to have not gotten any sleep.

Gary ignored the comment. "Once we are all set I say we go find this Doc Li that Three Dog mentioned."

"Sounds like a plan." Billy replied. The men were all ready; Constantine took the lead as usual. Dogmeat trotted alongside Gary who walked alongside Constantine. Billy was behind Gary. Carlos was lagging behind, kicking small rubble as he walked.

After walking for a bit Gary extended a finger. "Ah, the exit!" A metal gate was directly ahead of the group. Light poured in, making a pattern on the ground.

"Rivet City will be right in front of us as we exit the subway and walk up the stairs." Constantine announced.

"You ever been to Rivet City before, Constantine?" Gary questioned.

"Multiple times. However Talon Company is not allowed in the city, so I had to go undercover."

"Man I haven't seen Rivet City in years! I wonder if it's the same ol' place." Billy announced. "How bout you, Carlos? You ever been?"

"No, the caravan would just stop outside of the ship, never go in."

Gary pushed the gate to the side, holding it open for everyone. Once everyone was through Gary walked through and closed the gate behind him. The light from the sun reflected off of Gary's goggles. As the group proceeded up the stairs, Dogmeat started to growl.

"What's the matter, boy?" Gary asked. Still in front, Constantine stopped in his tracks as he reached the top of the staircase. Gary nearly ran into the merc. He looked at where Constantine was staring.

"Crap..." Gary muttered.

It was a group of three Talon Company mercs. Two were armed with assault rifles and the one who appeared to be leading had a sniper rifle." The fuck is this Constantine? You traitorous rat!"

Gary spoke before Constantine could respond. "This ain't about him, it's about me."

"Very noble of ya, so you must be the goody two shoes from the Vault. You got any last words?"

"Yea," Gary's grip on his shotgun tighten. "Bring it on, bitch."

The merc sneered. "I love when they go down fighti..." Gary stopped the merc with a single shotgun shell to the face. The man's head exploded, tearing the top half of his head away from the jaw.

"Shit!" yelled one of the mercenary's behind their fallen leader. Constantine dropped to one knee and withdrew his magnum. He fired several rounds into one of the men, causing the Talon merc to fall over backwards. Gary fired off another shell, clipping the last remaining merc in the knee. Before the last man standing could fight back, Billy held out his magnum and shot one bullet, catching the man in the neck.

"That's how we do things boys." Gary exclaimed as he put his shotgun on his back. He let out a series of small chuckles. "They didn't even know what happened to them."

Carlos pushed past Gary and Constantine and proceeded towards the group of Talon Company mercs. The mercenary that Billy had shot was twitching on the ground, hands clenched on his neck as blood seeped through it.

The dying merc tried to gurgle out some words, yet to no avail. Carlos withdrew his assault rifle and riddled the man with bullets. "Now we're done." Carlos stated.

"That we are, shall we proceed?" Constantine asked as he ejected the spent rounds out of his magnum and replaced them.

"Sounds like a plan, but first," Gary walked over to the corpses and looted them for weapons and ammo. "we enjoy the spoils of victory."

"Mind if I take the assault rifle?" Billy asked, pointing to the assault rifle Gary had in hand.

"Happy birthday." Gary tossed the weapon to Billy. He now stared at the sniper rifle. "I guess I could try it out, unless you want it, Carlos?" the guard simply shook his head. "Alright then I guess I'll screw around with the weapon for a bit." He strapped the sniper to his back.

"Take the assault rifle and sell it when you get the chance." Constantine spoke up.

Gary examined the assault rifle and held it in his hands. He looked up to his group. "Armor costs a pretty penny doesn't it?" He questioned.

"Depends on the type." Billy stated.

"Well I guess I'll let these nice Talon company boys treat me to some new armor." Gary replied. He slid the armor off of a dead merc and looked at it, it appeared to fit.

Gary removed the leather protection from his Vault jumpsuit and placed his weapons and bandolier on the ground. Gary slipped the pants and upper torso of the armor on over his jumpsuit. He put the bandolier back over his head and put the leather in his bag.

Gary looked towards the massive aircraft carrier that was Rivet City and whistled. The ship was probably the largest object Gary had ever seen. In front of it was a metal structure that had stairs leading up. The group proceeded up the stairs. Once on the top level the men (and dog) were left with a giant gap between them and the ship. One a metal beam was an intercom.

"You could do the honor and press the button and ask to bring the bridge over." Billy said to Gary. The Lone Wanderer walked to the intercom and pressed the button. The device crackled to life.

"State your business in Rivet City."

"Umm... I need to see Dr. Li. And we would like to trade if that's alright."

"Wait while I bring the bridge over." the voice replied. The whole ship seemed to awaken as a loud screech floated in the air as a bridge rotated towards the group.

"I just thought of somethin', is that sanitary?" Billy asked, pointing to Gary's new armor.

"Shut it." Gary joked. The bridge stopped at their feet. The group walked across the bridge towards Rivet City. As soon as they stepped foot on the ship they were stopped by a guard wielding an assault rifle.

"Talon Company isn't accepted around here, I'm going to have to ask you to leave before anything starts."

"Well Mr..."

"Harkness, I'm the head of security in Rivet City."

"Well you see sir; we are not mercenaries or scum bags of any sort. We just happened to kill a group of Talon Company mercs outside of your lovely city. My friend and I were in dire need of armor so we took it from their corpses for ourselves." Gary stated.

Harkness raised an eyebrow. "Is that sanitary?" Gary heard Billy chuckle behind him.

"Sir I'm from a Vault, I know all about sanitation. This is not a prime example of it."

Harkness placed his rifle on his back and crossed his arms. "So I heard you had business with Dr. Madison Li?"

"Yessir."

"Let me guess—no, she's not expecting you, but it's really important and you need to see her right away."

"Wow you're good." Gary replied.

"There's been a lot of that going around lately, and I've had just about enough of it. So you're going to have to do better then that."

Gary stopped and scratched his chin. He wasn't sure if telling Harkness about his dad would allow him to get in. A little lie appeared to be in order. "I have some questions about her recent work in hydroponics."

Harkness raised an eyebrow. "Err, what? Listen, I don't know much about her work so you're going to have to ask her about that yourself. She's probably in the Science Lab. Just keep out of trouble on my boat."

The group said their thanks to the chief and walked to the marketplace. The room was large to say the least and buzzing with people. There were several stores set up, all with people browsing. Tents covered each store, making 'rooms'.

Billy leaned over to Gary. "What was that science lingo you dropped on the guard?"

"I know a bit about science from my dad. Hydroponics is essentially a different method of growing plants. But anywho, here we are, go forth, divide and conquer."

"We gonna meet up here in a few hours?" Carlos asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Stock up on whatever you need." Carlos and Billy walked off into the crowd.

"I wish to stay with you if you are content with that." Constantine stated.

"I appreciate the company Constantine, but you're allowed to have some fun too. Go find a bar and get a drink or somethin'."

"I don't partake in alcohol or chems, they dull the senses. In a fight they could very well mean your death."

Gary shrugged his shoulder. "Point taken. Alright you could come with me and Dogmeat." The three bumped past the citizens of Rivet City on their way to the closest shop. Under the tent was a large table with many guns ranging from rifle to pistols. A man with a handlebar moustache was standing next to a cash register.

The man raised his hands. "Welcome to Flak and Shrapnel's, we sell the best Goddamned guns around! I'm Flak."

Gary saw Constantine shutter out of the corner of his eye. "Can I see what kinds of guns you have for sale?"

Flak crossed his arms and laughed. "Ya need some killin' done? Everything on the table is what I have for sale."

Gary meandered over to the table and examined Flak's wares. He picked up some rounds for his rifles and pistol and walked over to Flak to pay for it. After handing over the caps he plopped the assault rifle he found on the table. "How much is this assault rifle worth?"

Flak picked up the weapon and ejected the clip. He pulled back the hammer to make sure there wasn't a round in the chamber. He sighted the rifle and tossed it around in his hands a bit. "A Chinese assault rifle. It is in fairly good condition. You sure you wanna get rid of it?"

"I'm more of a precision man, personally. So what are ya thinkin?"

"I'll give ya 250 caps for it?"

Constantine walked over to Flak and crossed his arms. "That is half the going price for an assault rifle of that caliber. How about we make a trade?"

"I'm listening."

"I would like a scoped .44 magnum, near perfect condition and ammo to go along with it."

Flak laughed at Constantine's wager. "Who do you think I am bud? Why would I have a scoped magnum? Those things are rare."

"You have ammo for a .44 magnum on your table. It would be rare for a supplier to not have the weapon to match the ammo."

Flak stared blankly at the merc for a moment. A smile slowly went across his face and then he laughed once again. "Ya know, I like you two. Yea I have one for special cases in the cabinet. I'll give ya several cylinder's worth of .44 ammo and the scoped .44. That sound good?"

"Perfect." Flak walked off to gather the items for the trade. Gary turned to Constantine.

"You already have a magnum, why the need for another one?"

"It is for you."

"Listen, Constantine, I don't have money to be throwing around and you certainly don't need to be paying for this. I already have a pistol."

"You wished to learn how to shoot like me, correct? I will teach you proper sniping with both a sniper and a magnum. They have proven to be great weapons for any moment." Gary simply stared at Constantine. He didn't understand him. He never really showed emotion, he only had just met him yet he was willing to help him so much.

After making the trade, Flak repaired Gary and Constantine's armor. He also painted over the Talon Company logo on both the sets of armor. Constantine, Gary, and Dogmeat grabbed some food before heading over to Dr. Li's lab.

Constantine stayed with Dogmeat outside of the lab; a dog probably wasn't a good idea inside. As soon as Gary entered the room he heard arguing. He slowly walked down the staircase. A woman in a lab coat was arguing with a man in a suit. Gary overheard some things about 'advanced technology', but he was on a mission.

He turned to two women facing away from the argument. They were standing in front of table littered with vials and chemicals. Fresh vegetables were laid out across a table to Gary's right. "Excuse me; I'm looking for a Doctor Madison Li."

An Asian woman in a lab coat quickly turned around, obviously angered. "Look, this is a restricted area. I'm tired of telling you people…" The woman's eyes widened, she put a hand up to her mouth. "I… it's you. My heavens, you look so much like him… but where's…?"

"You're James' son, aren't you? What are you doing here? And where is your brother?"

Gary scratched the back of his head. "Uh…wait I'm sorry. How do you know who I am? Have we met?"

The woman sighed. "Typical, he wouldn't have said anything about me. Yes we have met, well you were an infant. I'm Doctor Li. But that doesn't explain what you are doing here. James said you and your brother were still in the Vault."

Dr. Li threw her hands in the air. "This is all positively ridiculous! Your father just shows up here as if nothing happened… He walked out on us. I know he had his reasons, I know it was to protect you, but still. Project Purity was our life. It was the only thing that mattered, and then he just gave up. He abandoned us, and we were forced to move on. I've already told him that it's over. There's no going back. Project Purity was a failure, and he needs to move on."

"Listen, ma'am, I apologize for interrupting your rant but I really need to find my father. Have you seen him?"

Doc Li narrowed her eyes. "Wait, you mean you haven't? I assumed he sent you here. For that matter, aren't you supposed to be in a Vault? James said he left you there."

"Ma'am this isn't about me. This is about my father. Now where the hell is he?"

"Your father is no longer here, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't use that tone with me."

"Listen, I'm sorry. I've just gone through a whole lotta shit recently. Could you please tell me where he's gone?"

"Your father insisted that we return to work on Project Purity. I tried telling him too much time has passed; there's no way it would work. And predictably, he refused to listen to me. He says he can prove it will work, and headed off to the old lab. I'm sorry but I don't know what else to tell you. You could check the old Jefferson Memorial building, it's just northwest of here."

"Then that looks like my next destination." Gary replied.

"No, please don't go after him. It was foolish of him to even think about going there alone."

"Don't you see? That gives me all the more reason to go, something could have happened to him."

Dr. Li sighed and gave a small smile. "Well I see that you're just as determined as James is. Alright, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Alright, well thank you." Gary turned around and was prepared to head back up the stairs but then he stopped. He contemplated asking her about his mother and father, but he decided that he would need to talk to James about that. Instead he found another question.

"Sorry to interrupt you ma'am, but what exactly is Project Purity?"

Dr. Li looked up from her work and back to Gary. "Our goal was to get clean, purified water to the Capital Wasteland. So many people suffer from the effects of drinking dirty water. A surplus of purified water could extend the life spans of people in the wastes!"

"Very noble, you don't find people like that anymore." Gary's curiosity suddenly got the better of him, and he spit out, "What could you tell me about my mother?"

"Catherine? She… she was an excellent scientist. Your father and she were very much in love. She was very excited to meet you, see you grow up."

Gary crossed his arms. "What exactly happened to her, how did she die?"

"During childbirth…she suffered from cardiac arrest. We tried to do our best to save her with the equipment that we had. We weren't prepared for anything of the sort."

Gary's face started twitching, his fists clenched. "Oh isn't that just fuckin' great? A group of scientists…_doctors_ weren't prepared for childbirth, you people are hacks!" Gary threw up his arms and marched up the stairs. He usually didn't lose his temper, but his whole life was affected by their 'lack of preparation'.

Before Gary opened up the door to leave the lab, he heard footsteps on the metal stairs behind him. "You there!" Gary turned to face the voice. It was the old man in the suit who was arguing with the scientist before. "I'm Dr. Zimmer, are you some kind of lab assistant? No, you appear to be a bit more… weathered."

"Nice to meet you two…" Gary muttered.

"Are you by any chance… for hire?"

"For hire? Like a mercenary? It depends on what kind of work you have for me?" Gary though through it, caps would keep him and the group going.

"Ah to the point. I like that. Well, as it turns out, I've misplaced some very sensitive… 'property'."

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific then that, bud."

"Hm… how do I put this in a way you'll understand. Well all you know of robots are those buckets of bolts—those Mr. Handshakers and whatnot. Well… that's not _all_ a robot can be. You see, in the Commonwealth, we've made artificial persons. Synthetic humanoids! Programmed to think and feel and do whatever we need."

"Don't insult my intelligence Zimmer. What's wrong with your perfect synthetic people?"

"Well you see… they occasionally get confused and wander off."

Gary let out a gruff chuckle. "This sounds like slavery to me, Zimmer. So what do you want me to do exactly? Retrieve the artificial person? This 'android'?"

"Exactly! I've tracked him this far. He's out there, somewhere. In the Capital Wasteland. I believe he has done something drastic, like facial surgery and a mind wipe! I would have found him by now if he hadn't taken such measures!"

"This will be no easy task. He may not even realize he's an android. Don't upset him talking with him. Just come get him immediately. I'll handle it."

Gary crossed his arms. "I don't know what you do in the Commonwealth, but out here we get paid for our work. Especially when bending my morals."

"I apologize, it slipped my mind. I have at my disposal advanced technology from the Commonwealth. I'd be willing to share some of it with you. Just think, you'd be the envy of all your friends!"

"Well when I have the time, I will look for this android of yours." Gary extended his hand and shook Zimmer's.

"Ah! Before you leave! Listen to this message he sent me. He's mocking me!" Gary accepted the holotape and left the lab. He listened to the android's speech; he promised that he would never be found. The voice was bland and emotionless. Reminded Gary of someone else…

"Was your talk successful?" Constantine asked Gary as he walked out of the lab.

"You know where the Jefferson Memorial is, Constantine?"

"Yes it is not far from out current location." Gary started walking down the metal hall of the aircraft carrier. "Shall we wait for the others?"

Gary thought for a second then shook his head. "No, I don't imagine we'll be in the memorial for long. We just need to do a quick sweep, find my dad, or find out where he went."

"As you wish."

* * *

><p>"What the hell do you mean you're not open? I've got caps!"<p>

"Listen bud, the bar ain't open 'till later. Come back later."

Carlos was in the bar located on the lower deck of Rivet City. "Just get me a damned shot of whiskey or something!"

The bouncer shoved a finger in Carlos' face. "Get outta here before I throw you outta here!"

"Get that finger out of my face or I'll break it." Carlos sneered back. Fast paced footsteps were heard on the floor overlooking the bar. Down the stairs came Billy.

"Sorry about my pal, friend. I'll get him out of your hair." Billy put a hand on Carlos' shoulder and started walking him away.

"Good idea." The bouncer turned his back on the two and started to walk away.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Carlos shouted.

"I could ask you the same thing. Settle down, ace. Let's go for a walk or something. This is your first time here so make it a good time." Billy continued to escort Carlos out, hoping to run into Gary or even Constantine.

* * *

><p>"Sniping is not as difficult as one makes it out to be. It takes practice just like any other task, but you are already experienced in shooting."<p>

Gary chuckled. "Practiced shooting my BB gun a whole lot as a kid." The three had made it to the outskirts of the Jefferson Memorial. Dogmeat was lying silently on the ground while Gary and Constantine crouched, snipers withdrawn.

Constantine pointed towards a figure in the distance. "A Super-Mutant." He stated. "A perfect target. They are large and lack the intelligence to realize they are being shot at until they are hit."

Gary held the sniper scope up to his right eye. The mutant's ugly face was clearly visible. "Now when sniping you must take in account your surroundings. Distance, weather, wind, angle, and noise all play a role in sniping. We could address those factors later though. Breathing is also key when…"

Gary took the shot, the mutant's head exploded.

Constantine slowly turned towards the Lone Wanderer. "Well I believe we are done here." Constantine started walking closer towards the memorial.

Gary laughed. "I think it was just beginner's luck." Gary got up from his crouched position and jogged to catch up to Constantine.

"I doubt you were even listening to me." Constantine raised his sniper and fired a single round, hitting a Super Mutant square between the eyes. They were now at the door to the memorial. The three entered.

"You're a good teacher, Constantine. And I thank you for working with me but I still have no idea why you do this."

"_If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well_."

"And there we are with your religious side. Would you care to explain to me," As they rounded a corner, two turrets started firing at them. Gary withdrew his shotgun and fired several shells into each, destroying them immediately. "why you're so religious? And why you are following me?"

"I said in time I would tell you. However you appear to be genuinely intrigued so I will enlighten you." Constantine took a deep breath before continuing. "I have been in the mercenary business my entire life. I was trained from a young age. I used God and the bible to get through the conflicts in my head. I never agreed with killing for a profit."

"Before I received the contract to kill you, I had a vision. You may call it a dream yet I believe that it was a vision directly from God. The Lord wanted me to show how devoted I was to Him. The Lord was vague, yet He stated that a noble soul was released into the Capital Wasteland. I was to align myself with this heroin of the Wastes. I was told to protect this person and guide them."

Gary quickly had a though appear in his head, "And he said he didn't take chems? Nah maybe this is just his way of saying he wanted to get out of his mercenary life."

Constantine turned to Gary. "I first heard of you when Mr. Burke arrived to Talon Company's base of operations. Your brother was with him. Mr. Burke is… for lack of a better word, scum."

Gary looked at Constantine with a surprised grin on his face. "I think that's the first time you've shown an opinion!"

Constantine ignored Gary's comment and carried on. "You had angered a very evil and very powerful man; I believed that you were the person the Lord spoke of. After my companions attacked you and the caravan I followed at a distance. When I heard that you were going into the heart of Washington DC to help someone... There was not a doubt in my mind that you were the one."

Gary opened up a door that had a sign reading 'Rotunda'. He was about to reply but was quickly stopped by the sounds of Super Mutants. "Two of 'em! I got left, you get right!" Gary opened fired with his shotgun upon the closest mutant. The first shell caused the monstrosity to drop his weapon. The buckshot from the second and third shell tore apart what little armor the mutant had on. One final blow to the chest caused the mutant's chest to gave in, a tortured moan escaped the mouth of the beast.

Constantine had seen the enemy before Gary had made note of them. The one on the right had statistically been the more dangerous to situation. It was alert, armored, and wielding an assault rifle. Constantine fired two rounds into the head of the mutant just to make sure that the bullets pierced both the metal helmet the mutant was wearing and its thick skull. The mutant's body went rigid and dropped forward, lifeless.

Constantine turned to Gary who had given a brief sigh if relief. The mercenary nodded and he watched the Lone Wanderer head up a set of stairs leading to the inside of a dome shaped room. The room was similar to a bubble; a thick glass separated the chamber from the rest of the larger room. Constantine examined the various hi tech devices assorted in different locations within the lab. He couldn't make anything of the devices; he was never one for technology.

Gary was rummaging through papers and clipboards, trying desperately to find something that could link to his dad. "All this tech, so much work. Everything was ended because of me and Oliver. I owe it to my mom… she died before He then saw three holotapes, all labeled with numbers. His heart started racing, this may be all the info he needed.

Constantine looked over Gary's shoulder. "Five, eight, and ten... Do you believe that there are more of these?"

"I hope so. You alright with sticking around and searching this place?" Gary inquired.

"If that is what you wish to do, then I am content with your decision. Do you wish to listen to them?"

"When I get the rest, yea I'll listen to them." The group left the rotunda and returned to the room the originally entered. Dogmeat proceeded to bark as soon as they closed the door behind them. The dog ran off and Gary made sure to stay close to his companion.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph what is that thing?" Gary exclaimed. The creature approaching the group was a monstrosity in every definition of the term. It was a huddled mass of different organic parts. Its head appeared to be a stretched human face and that was as far as the resemblance went. It was like a slug with around human arms for legs. The creature's three giant tongue sliced through the air like fan blades. It stood taller then Dogmeat, measuring near Gary's shoulder.

"I suppose there are worst things that you could have said..." Constantine started.

"Please don't start with that, Constantine." Gary replied. He fired off a shell from his shotgun making contact with the creature's abdomen. Gary went to fire again but his weapon only responded with an empty 'click'.

As Gary ejected the barrel drum from his combat shotgun, Dogmeat had lashed out at the wounded beast. The creature fought back with its tongues, catching Dogmeat on the side. As Dogmeat backed up to gather its bearings from the hit, Constantine fired a single shot at the creature.

As the beast fell over, Constantine answered Gary's previous question. "That was a Centaur. They are companions to Super-Mutants, serving as their 'dogs'."

"Ugly-ass dog is you ask me." Gary bent down to Dogmeat and petted him behind the ears. "They don't have anything on you, bud."

The two men and dog eventually made it to the lower level of the Jefferson Memorial, only to be ambushed by more Super-Mutants. When they were are disposed of, Gary and Constantine cleared every room just to make sure nothing else would get the jump on them. The last room to clear was what looked like a bedroom of some sort.

A single mattress was in the corner of the room. Several empty scotch bottles were strewn on the floor. "Yep, my dad was here." Gary said aloud.

"What brings you to believe that?"

"He was always a fan of scotch." Gary walked towards the bed; four holotapes were on a bedside desk. "Numbers one, two, three, and… this one isn't numbered…"

"There is another holotape over here." Constantine stated. Gary turned around to face his companion, who was holding the tape in his hand. The merc tossed it over to Gary, who caught it and examined it.

"It reads 'Better Days'…" Gary placed the tape into his Pip-boy to listen to it.

"I could leave if you wish to be alone."

Gary waved off Constantine. "Nah, you could stay."

"That batch of tests was inconclusive, but Madison and I are convinced it's a problem with the second filtration system." Gary's eyes went wide, he felt sweat run down his neck. This wasn't his father's voice. It was a female's. Could it be…?

"We're going to recalibrate the equipment and try again tomorrow so that... James, please, I'm trying to work. Now's not the time! ...So that's the next step. Assuming we get the results we need, we'll move on to… James!" The woman let out a giggle. "Stop, I need to finish these notes!" She laughed once again and appeared to try and regain her composure. "We'll move on to diagnosing the issues with the radiation dampeners, that should... Owww! James! Now? We really shouldn't…" The voice let out a small giggle once more and then slowly trialed off and the tape clicked to an end.

Gary was standing and staring at his Pip-boy, as if expecting it to give him more answers. "Was that… that was… my mother?" Gary removed his goggles from his face and let them hang around his neck. He let out a nervous laugh and ran his hand through his hair as he leaned up against a wall.

"Are you well?"

"Yea I am, I just… wow." Gary slumped to floor and look to the ceiling. "I just can't believe it… I never knew my mom, but just to hear her voice it got me all worked up… it's probably stupid of me."

"No it is not. It is completely understandable." Constantine's emotionless actually sounded soothing for once, regardless if it was intended to be or not. "Tell me, Mr. North, are you a religious man?"

Gary turned to Constantine. "Not to your extent by any means. I've skimmed the Bible once or twice. According to my dad, my mom always had a favorite bible verse."

"And what was that?"

"Revelation 21:6"

Constantine gave a knowing nod; Gary could swear that he saw him smile too. "It makes sense. _I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely._" Constantine sat down next to Gary and placed his sniper up against the wall. "Your mother was a good person, Mr. North. I know this by the quote. Her dream to purify water for the people of the Wastes made her a noble woman indeed, one I would have wished to meet. She is looking down on you, proud of you and your accomplishments."

Gary could hear the sincerity behind every word. He would never understand this mercenary. "Thanks, Constantine. I would have liked to meet her too. With any luck though, maybe you'll meet my dear ol' dad."

"I look forward to it Mr. North. You are very much described in that quote as Alpha. You are the beginning to a new wasteland, my friend." Constantine stood back up and dusted off his pants. Gary allowed Constantine's words to sink in.

A smile went across Gary's face. "And what, my brother is the very end of the wasteland? He's Omega?"

Constantine shrugged. "If he gets what he desires, he very well could be." Gary nodded and popped in a new holotape, this one wasn't marked.

"Well, here we are again. Project Purity and me." It was his father's voice now. "It's been close to twenty years since my last entry. Since I left all of this behind to make a life for my son. We've spent that time in Vault 101, tucked away from the rest of the world. It wasn't perfect, but it was safe, and that's all I could have hoped for. Now, my son is a grown man. Handsome, intelligent, confident. Just like his old man. Hmph." Gary couldn't help but smile as his dad said this. "And as hard as it was to admit it, he doesn't need his daddy anymore." The smile slowly faded away.

"I'll always need ya, dad." Gary whispered to himself. Gary listened to every single holotape while sitting on the floor. Constantine leaned on the doorframe patiently. Gary was barely even listening to the words; he just soaked in his father's voice. After the last tape, Gary let out a deep sigh and stood up.

"So we are to go to Vault 112, then?" Constantine asked.

"Wait what? Oh yea right… Vault 112." Gary started walking down the hall, Constantine and Dogmeat following behind him. "Ya know, we don't even know if he is there. This could be a wild goose chase."

"Don't give up hope yet, Mr. North. You must carry on."

"I'm not giving up hope! I'm just thinking… what if we could be some help around Rivet City? I rushed all the way to Rivet City thinking I'd catch up with my dad and I was completely wrong. So why rush again? People may need help."

Constantine shook his head. "They simply do not make them like you anymore, Mr. North."

"Well we could all be thankful for that." Gary jokingly replied. The group proceeded to exit the Rotunda and head to Rivet City, holding onto hopes of improving the lives of the citizens.

* * *

><p>"Well fuck this shit; we've been following the river for days, days I tell you!" Oliver exclaimed.<p>

"Will you shut the fuck up, we're almost there." Jericho shot back. The retired raider threw a spent cigarette to the ground and lit up another in one fluid motion. Oliver fished out a half-empty whiskey bottle from his back pack and downed it. The liquor went smoothly down his throat.

"So what is your almighty plan, _boss_?" Jericho held a sarcastic tone when using the term. Oliver wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and tossed the bottle at Jericho, hoping it would break.

"Don't use that tone with me. We're going to find my brother and kill him, or maybe enslave him. I don't really know what I feel like doin' to 'im yet."

"You're a born raider, kid. Ya know that that fuck-nut DJ on Galaxy News Radio got a wiff of what you're doin? He called you a jack ass for killin' those ghouls botherin' Tenpenny."

"Well good for him. But how the hell did he get that info?"

"Beats me." Jericho shrugged and took a drag from his cigarette. "He also got some info from your dear ol' brother. Three Dog has called you a Reaver and a Pirate of the Wastes."

Oliver let out a triumphant laugh. "I like it! What's he callin' my brother?"

"The _Protector of the Wastes_." The two men got a kick out of the term and started laughing. Oliver scanned the horizon, hoping for a sign of Rivet City. A large domed building was in the distance.

"Yo what did you say Rivet City looked like?"

"It's a huge ass ship. That up ahead is the Jefferson Memorial. I told you we were close."

Oliver squinted his eyes; he saw three figures exiting the memorial area. As Jericho and Oliver got closer to the memorial, a large grin stretched across his face. He reached for his laser rifle.

"Well it looks like there is a God, cuz Christmas came early this year." Oliver rushed past Jericho towards the group.


End file.
